Fractured Recall
by Carona Sectre
Summary: Long before there was Catherine, Vincent Keller fought the war on terror in Afghanistan. War was hell, but deep friendships forged that he hoped would last a lifetime; until Project Muirfield brought it all to a tragic end. Now 13 years later, a patient admitted under Vincent's care awakens long forgotten memories. What is his past trying tell him? VK CC JT, TV, OC
1. Chapter 1

_**Fractured Reflections - Chapter 1**_  
Afghanistan Desert August, 2002 

Bagram Airfield, once known as Bagram Air Base, is the largest U.S. military base in Afghanistan. It is located next to the ancient city of Bagram, 11 kilometers (6.8 mi) southeast of Charikar in the Parwan Province of Afghanistan. The base is mostly operated by government contractors, the International Security Assistance Force, and by statistics it is minimally used by the US Armed Forces.

Or so it this was the belief of Dr. Vincent Keller until 0400 hours the morning of August 7, 2002.

That morning he was summoned to the office of his commanding officer, who was in charge of the Delta Company. Eric Milverson, Raymond Ascalvo, Matthew Pierce, and Zach Hayes stood there with him to receive their new assignment. Their commanding officer informs them that they were reassigned to Top-Secret Squad called Project Muirfield.

Despite the squad looking curious about it, the commander could only provide minimal details as the rest were need to know. The only thing he was told was that they were chosen because their skills were the best in the US Army. The commander informed them that a detachment will ship them out at 0300 hours to Bagram airfield and they will receive further instructions.

It was now 0600 hours and the 5 men stood in formation at parade rest next to each other. Twenty-six other soldiers stood with them as the morning heat started to seep into their boots. Even in the early morning hours, the tarmac was starting to sink the heat into the soles and cause a little discomfort. However, each of them also shown eagerness to learn what Project Muirfield was all about. Each soldier maintained parade rest despite the heat.

That was except Zach Hayes.

"How long is this supposed to take?" Zach asks Vincent with annoyance in his tone.

Vincent closes his eyes as Zach breaks rank as always. Zach may be assigned to this group for having skills, but perfect military form was not one of them. The only positive thing was the man was good at hiding it from commanding officers. Otherwise, his fitness report would tell a very different story. Vincent exhales annoyingly and rolls his head towards Zach.

"It's going to take as long as it takes." Vincent replies with a sardonic smile. "And not a moment before or after."

"This heat is burning the living shit out of my feet!" he grumbles as he shifts his feet.

"And you expected what when you were assigned? A red carpet with soothing ointment?" Vincent snaps back.

"Buck up, Hayes!" Ascalvo gave him a playful shove. "You're a soldier, not a girl scout. Start acting like one."

Milverson leaned towards Vincent and Michael as Ascalvo continues to goad Hayes.

"How in the hell did this guy even get chosen for this project?" He grumbles under his breath. "I know 5 year old girls more rugged than this pantywaist."

"They were tired of him bitching, or they hope he grows some balls out here." Vincent quips. "Medical scientist has come a long way."

The group giggles at the remark and quiets down. Zach taps Vincent's shoulder and nudges him in a certain direction.

"Hey. Hot Piece of Ass at 9:00." Zach spoke as he looks towards their left.

Vincent sighs as he heard the remark. He turns to look at the girl who was third to his left. The frown over the remark turned into a soft smile; he likes what he sees. As a doctor, he would guess that she was in her early twenties and the ideal definition of the perfect soldier. He did notice Lieutenant bars on her collars, which told him trouble for any enlisted man in the unit.

Her hair was in regulation style braid and almost black. There were strands of red that glistens with the rising sun, which makes him wonder if it was dye or natural. However, she looks professional in her uniform as she looks forward.

He found it difficult to determine her ethnicity, but he was seeing Angelo and some southern European descent. Her fair skin glows like a sunlit summer peach, which offsets the fierce and intense features on her face. Her eyes were light green, which reminds him of a panther and perfectly offsets her dark reddish hair.

She slowly turns her head in his direction and raises her eyebrow. He couldn't help but continue staring for a few moments as their eyes connect. She gives him a wry grin to indicate she knew he was staring. However, she didn't seem to mind as she appears to like what she saw in him as well.

"Hey! You're staring." Mike whispers at him bringing him out of his love-struck trance.

"I'm not staring." He quickly retorts as a small bit of laughter occurs.

"Hey! I saw that first." Zach threw his arms out and looks hard at Vincent. "I called dibs!"

Vincent has had it with Zach in terms of female relationships. While at the previous command, Zach was notoriously analyzing women and making sexist remarks. Either the commanding officer never came around or it was convenient forgotten. However, Vincent felt he was raised right and was told to respect women. It didn't hurt that his mother was the type to grab him by the ear for any foul step. Well, it did hurt, but it made him a better man he thinks.

Vincent scoffs and folds his arms.

"That is your problem right there, Hayes. She is a person, not a thing! Why don't you start referring them as human beings instead of objects."

"Yeah, he's right about that." Pierce piped in. "And no woman likes to be called a HOPA, Hayes! If I called my wife a hot piece of ass, she would cut off my dick to serve for breakfast!"

Zach exhales angrily.

"Well what chance do I have when all of them are looking at Keller!" His eyes bore daggers into Vincent. "You took my girl away! Why don't you save some for the rest of us!"

"Oh for fucks sake!" Vincent closes his eyes and drops his head before placing his hand over his face shaking his head.

"If you're going to go on and on about Gabriella again, I'm in no mood. Now shut the hell up! We are supposed to be standing at parade rest and you are making us all look like a bunch of high school jocks!"

"Your girl was the town bicycle, Hayes!" Ascalvo retorts as Zach angrily lunged toward him.

Approaching vehicles averts the fight from starting. The group corrects their formation as they watch the action unfold as the convey park in front of them.

A Rheinmetall Yak with medical red cross on the side stops fifty yards for them. Vincent recognize several medics unloading from the field. This view includes a mature woman who treated his gunshot wound to the shoulder. He could hardly forget her telling him to stop being a doctor.

Shortly after that, three humvees arrive besides the medics. Two Gunnery Sergeants open the doors of two of them, which six civilians unload. The Gunnies were summarily dismissed and they drove the humvees off the lot. The civilians wore suits and badges, which suggest government officials.

The third humvee remain idle for a long period of time as the rest of the convoy remain behind it. After what felt like an awkward block in the action, the vehicle finally moves to the front and came to a halt. A highly ranked NCO jumps out and opens the back door to disembark the passengers.

The first man was a tall, asian man wearing a dark suit and accompany with high-end jewerly. If Vincent was to guesstimate the value of the apparel, it would be enough to fund their excursion in Afghanistan at the least. Vincent guessed the man was in charge of the project, but the body language also spoke of a self-absorbed asshole.

The final five FMTV tactical vehicles came roaring up to the rear. A group of soldiers jump out shouting in a unified cadence while they unload crates of munitions. Without any orders from a commanding officer, they unload the trucks efficiently and fall into formation. They stand at attention with perfection in their stances. From their battle kevlar, insignias, and weapons, Vincent assumes that they were special forces. A mix of Green Berets and Delta Force.

The day had just become a hell of a lot more interesting.

"At ease!" A man wearing captain's bars shouted as they all stood with their feet apart, weapons across their shoulders.

The man caught Vincent attention because he didn't seem to fit the conventional profile of a special ops soldier. Rather than brute force, special force utilize stealth and tactics, which makes them like ninjas in those stories. These people could disassemble the average soldier in less time it takes to pour a cup of coffee through efficiency rather than brawling.

The man was about six four and two forty of muscle. He look like he ate his wheaties and started PT once the doctor spank his ass at birth. He was a perfect specimen for a soldier, but he did not have the intensity he expected from special forces. He appears a little more sedate, but looks can be deceiving.

The other thing that stood out was his age. The other guys appear to be early thirties to mid-forties, which he looks in his mid-twenties. He had dark skin and appearance of Native American or those Aleutian islanders he saw in a report. The captain bars also stood out. Either he was older than he looks or he was fast-tracked.

As he falls into formation with his unit, he caught Vincent staring at him. He nods at him and Vincent returns the nod in kind. He turns his head back, but not before catching a name tag that reads Faulks.

Once he was finished ogling the men and weapons, Vincent's eyes drift back to the girl and frowns as he observes her eyes locked into an ardent gaze with Faulks.

"Well crap." he whispers to himself and sighs as he presses his lips together to form a half-smile. He didn't break formation, but he broke out into a larger smile feeling happy that the girl he felt could be a potential Mrs. Vincent Keller seems to have possibly found her true soul mate.

"Mrs. Keller is out there. Just going to take a while." he whispers to himself before a man in dress uniform with the rank of colonel approaches and quickly inspects the recruits. He raises an eyebrow and nods approvingly towards the group. He steps back and clears his throat.

"Good morning and welcome." the Colonel spoke. "Welcome to the first day of the end to the War on Terror!"

The crowd behind him erupts into an applause as the group maintains attention.

"My name is Colonel Daniel Phillips and for the next 10 weeks, I will run everyone through hell during this specialized training. By the end, you will hate my guts and you will use that anger against Al Qaeda!"

Vincent winces at the jihadist group with brief flashes of the towers. He quickly snaps back out of it to listen to the Colonel.

"I don't expect anything less than the best. I don't care about how many head shots you accomplish or how you can strategize a mission. Your ability for getting inside the head of the enemy and counterattacking means jack in this unit." he spoke to a confused unit. "In the mix of 1000 soldiers, we had combat specialists who exceeded each of you in those categories and didn't make the cut. You few are here because you proved to have what it takes to be a super soldier!"

Phillips let that information sink in before continuing.

"Project Muirfield is going to make you faster, stronger, and more agile." he smiles proudly. "That is just scratching the surface to potential for the 21st century war machine."

Colonel Phillips walks in front of Vincent and studies him for a moment. The Colonel was familiar with the look in his eyes. He has see two variety of men join the Army in the wake of 9/11. There were the people who had a spark of anger flare up with the attack and joined out of patriotic pride. Vincent represented the other kind of men. The ones who lost someone that day and joined to make sure no one else loses somebody on American Soil. He nods and continues.

"Of course, we will need a squad leader. Since each of you represents the best candidates for this project, we shall have an unconventional exercise to determine the best choice." he waves his hand as that soldier steps out with an MP5 in his arms. Vincent and the woman look at Faulks with a clear view. His short black hair, darkened skin, and high cheek bones struck many of the recruits, but identification tags outside of the name tag were difficult to find on his uniform.

"Your mission if you accept it is to get that MP5 away from Captain Faulks. From your basic training and performance evaluations, you should be able to do this within three rounds." he said before grinning a little sadistically. "Although I should mention that Captain Faulks is from the **1st Special Forces Operational Detachment-Delta.** If this is news to you folks, he can walk into hell to get your behind out and be back for chow time! To date, no one has pried his weapon from his hands. Do we got a volunteer?"

Alex's eyes remains focused on the group, but did stray towards the lady for brief moments. The lady's eyes connects with his and there was a reaction. Neither of them knew what it was at this moment, but something was happening.

"May the best man win." Vincent thought to himself as he prepared to retrieve the weapon and maybe still win a chance with the girl.

Phillips scoffs at the group.

"Don't be shy. Captain Faulks hasn't killed anyone in a training exercise yet." Phillips continues to grin. "If round one ends and none of you are fortunate enough to take possession of his weapon, we shall proceed to round two and three. If anyone wins one of those challenges, you will be squad leader. Any volunteers?"

A recruit of equal size to Captain Faulks steps forward.

"I volunteer, sir!" he shouted, which caused Phillips to grin.

"You see boys and girls…" he speaks as he spots the recruits name tag. "We got our first brave soul ready for an ass kicking. 2nd Lieutenant Castillo everyone." the Colonel drapes his arm around Castillo. "This task should be simple for a strapping young man like you. All you have to do is approach Captain Faulks and take his gun away."

The Colonel nudges Castillo towards Alex, who is standing with MP5 shouldered and his arms crossed. Castillo salutes and Alex returns the salute. Castillo charges him and tries to take Alex out with brute force. Alex takes his aikido training and uses Castillo's momentum against him. Castillo taps out and Alex releases the hold.

"I forgot to tell you. Captain Faulks is also versed in multiple disciplines of martial arts." he looks down at Castillo. "Sorry, son."

One by one all that volunteered stood before Faulks and failed.

When it was finally Vincent's turn, all eyes were upon him - anyone taking bets that day would have picked Vincent to be the victor; anybody but Vincent who knew he was clearly mismatched in height and weight as he attempted to appeal to Faulk's better nature. first giving him a salute, Vincent gave a trepid smile.

"Hi...Captain. I don't even have to fight you to know that you could make my testicles switch places. Can you just do me a favor and make it look like it was a good fight?"

Faulks gave Vincent a look that neither confirmed nor denied he had accepted his request.

Vincent got into a standard stance and approaches Alex. He was able to grapple the Captain and tussle around for a minute or so. Thankfully, the MP5 was on safety, or Colonel Phillips would have a lot of paperwork. The fight ended with the Captain flipping Vincent hard onto his back and pressing his boot down on the recruit's throat.

The last to step forward was the girl. "And that leaves one volunteer." Phillips turned around looking at the girl. "Would you like to take a stab at getting Captain Faulks's weapon away from him?"

She stood at attention saluting the colonel. "Yes Sir! But please know that fighting isn't my strongest skill...SIR!" Her response was nervous.

Phillips laughed and placed his hand against the small of her back walking her forward.

"Is that why you waited until the end, soldier?" He chuckled. "I'm sure if you smile sweetly and ask nicely, Captain Faulks will be kind and go easy on you."

She nodded and saluted Captain Faulks as Phillips quickly turned on his boot heel and stomped away muttering to himself.

"How did this broad even get in the Army?" He muttered as he stood with the recruits. "I don't even want to think about how she got chosen for Project Muirfield."

Vincent, who was standing only a foot from the Colonel, turned and frowned. His mother would tan his hide if he ever said anything like that and it provoked anger hearing those remarks from an elder.

Once Phillips was out of range, the girl raised her head slowly until she was looking into the eyes of Captain Faulks who smiled back amiably. Giving him a wink, she reached up and opened the top 3 buttons on her uniform revealing a black and lacy article of clothing offset by smooth cleavage. In Alex's state of bewilderment, she used the opportunity to deliver a fist punch to his jaw knocking him off balance, followed by a foot sweep that sent him falling to the hard asphalt. She immediately grabbed his falling weapon and shoved it against his chest, cocking it's trigger.

"Dead." She whispered.

"Son of a bitch." Vincent whispered to himself.

After an several moments of stunned silence, everyone present broke out in cheers and applause as Phillips approached the girl who had returned to her feet standing erect holding onto the weapon proudly.

"Well little lady, it appears I greatly underestimated you." He grinned at her proudly as he addressed the crowd. "Team! Meet the only man..." Phillips cleared his throat. "...erm...make that person alive - to ever be able to pry Captain Faulks weapon out of his hands. Should I call you Mata Hari, or do you have another name...soldier?"

"First Lieutenant Fiona Conner, SIR!" Vincent linked the cadence of her voice to urban New York, Brooklyn or perhaps the Bronx. "And do NOT call me Lady." She hissed under her breath. "Because a lot of witness saw you touch me inappropriately when you thought I was some dumb ass barbie doll." She smiled once again as Phillips gulped hard.

"Welcome to Project Muirfield, Lieutenant Conner." He leaned in so only she could hear. "You have my word. And I sincerely apologize for any disrespect." He immediately regained his ground. "Fall in, Conner! And since evidently, there will be no further activities today, you may dismiss your squad."

"Yes Sir!" Fiona shouted and took her place in front of the recruits. "At ease!" She shouted before her voice softened. "I suggest you all take this opportunity to find your quarters and familiarize yourselves with your squad." A smile crept across her downward turned, full lips. "And as we are situated right next to the canteen. I'm going to be there tonight and I expect to see you all there. Company dismissed!"

As Fiona turned around she found herself face to face with Vincent Keller.

"Well played." He smiled admirably. "Congratulations. That was amazing."

Fiona gave a short laugh. "Thanks..." Her eyes flashed on the tag above his pocket. "...Keller."

"You can call me Vincent." He extended his hand.

"Nice to meet you, Keller." She reached for the offered hand giving it a firm shake. "And you can call me Fio."

"Fio." He gave a chuckle an. "Fio it is!"

After stepping away from Conner, Phillips approaches Alex angrily while the rest of the squad ribs the Captain for getting outsmarted by a girl.

"What the fuck was that?" Phillips bellowed and threw his arms out incredulously. "What the fuck was that? A beautiful girl flashes you and your woody allows her to take the weapon off you? You might as well handed her your man card as well! Every single recruit in the Berets and Delta has never been able to take your weapon and you just let her? What if she was a hostile!?"

Alex shrugged his shoulders.

"She used her brain, sir. She is a good fit." he said walking towards Conner to retrieve his weapon.

Phillips stood there shaking his head as he looks at Keller and Conner. He stood watching the pair becoming fast friends based on the laughter. His anger dissipated as the humor and logic sunk in. Captain Faulks was a man of few words and excellent judge of character. When Colonel Phillips was asked to select his squad of trainers, he shortlisted Captain Faulks' name without an interview or evaluation. He walked out of earshot of the group to refrain from laughing.

He was saved by two men approaching him on both sides. He turned to the familiar man on the right and held out his hand.

"Bob Reynolds." he clasps his hand with man. "How the hell is my old West Point roommate?"

Bob let go of Philips hand and embraced him with a slap on a back.

"How am I?" he chuckled. "I'm envious of this show you're running here. You get to turn 30 recruits into into Captain America. My life sucks compared to yours."

"Hey, you retired." he placed his hands on hips as he grins. "You traded the uniform in for a corner office, a beautiful secretary, and an air conditioner."

The pesky man on the other side of him sighed loudly and then lit a cigar before clearing his throat impatiently. This would be the man Vincent watched exit the Humvee earlier who did not impress him. Phillips rolled his eyes and sighed irritably.

"Yes, Zhao? Is there something I can do for you?"

Li Zhao took a power stance as he took quick drags of his cigar.

"Yes, you can assure me that my multi-billion project is not turning into a fucking circus act!"

"Circus act?" Phillips sputtered. "You wanted only the best and I got you the best. How is this a circus act?"

""That girl!" he points to Fiona. "Her little stunt today made a mockery of the Army and this program. Project Muirfield is for Soldiers! Not Strippers!"

"Oh for fuck sake, Zhao!" Reynolds shouted before Phillips stopped him.

"Son, the man who tested her is the best I have seen." he takes Zhao cigar out of his mouth and throws it to the ground. "While you are sitting cozy in your office, Captain Faulks was in enemy territory with his life on the line. Each second he has to evaluate who he has to take out and who he spares because his squad mates depend on it. So I will take his advisement over yours!"

"And.." an asian woman wearing a labcoat interjects to defuse a potential time bomb conversation. "that woman managed to disarm a man nearly twice her size. Lieutenant Conner is 5'7 and hand to hand combat is passable, but not exceptional. However, she compensates with stealth, street smarts, agility, and her world-class parkour skills do not hurt either. She also can use her looks to disarm the toughest of men, which makes me surprised she was not recruited for the CIA. These skills are why she was chosen for this project." She pursed her lips giving a self-satisfied look at Zhao. "Imagine what Project Muirfield can do with her and what she will then be able to do to Al-Qaeda."

Zhao folds his arms and glares at Fiona before shaking his head. "Fine, you can keep her, but she is your responsibility! Put a leash on her!"

Zhao storms off to the Humvee where his driver opens the door without hesitation. Phillips scoffs before turning towards the scientist and Bob.

"Prick." he kicks the dirt over the still smoldering cigar and crosses his arms. "I trust Captain Faulk's judgement. If he assesses those recruits as good, I will believe him. I had money on Keller, but after seeing Conner in action, I almost feel sorry for Bin Laden after we inject her. Almost."

On the other side of the air strip, Fiona and Vincent continued their flirtatious banter.

"Hell's Kitchen!" He chuckled. "Let me guess; you are second...maybe third generation Irish American. Grandparents arrived here in the early part of the 20th century." He paused and flashed a grin at her. "So how am I doing?"

Fiona smiled wide and laughed softly. "Wow! Impressive. And you are right. My Grandfather arrived in America from Galway, Ireland with his mother and father, plus 8 siblings in 1923. How did you know?"

Vincent gave a short laugh.

"Because it is almost identical to my story." He stepped in a little closer which Fiona did not seem to mind. "So...I was thinking later on..."

The remainder of his question never escaped his lips as they were approached by Captain Faulks. Fiona and Vincent quickly stood at attention saluting their superior.

Alex saluted back then waved it off.

"At ease." He chuckled then turned to look at Fiona. "Sorry for the intrusion, but I think you have something that belongs to me." He grinned softly as his eyes shift to the gun still gripped in her hands.

Fiona glanced at the MP5 and back up at him. "Oh, you mean this?" She held it up and grinned playfully. "If you are referring to your weapon...I took it from you fair and square. If you want it back. I guess you are going to have to find a way to get it from me." Fiona smiled wryly and took off with his gun. As she walked away, she turned around and blew him a kiss to which both Alex and Vincent both chuckled at her sassiness.

"You do realize getting that away from her won't be easy" Vincent crossed his arms watching her leave; all kidding aside, he marveled at the way she walked like a real soldier with her shoulders erect taking quick, long strides.

"Yeah." Was all Alex responded as he stared at her Godsmacked, clearly admiring more than her military presence. "But it should with no doubt be fun." He raised an eyebrow and looked at Vincent.

Vincent sensed in his response there was an energy between the two of them that confirmed his earlier belief there would be no getting that chance he had hoped with her. However, he used his educated mind to make sure he was fine with it. He had quickly grown to respect both in the short amount of time he had spent with them and were good people as far as he was concerned.

"Hey..." Vincent smiled gratefully giving him a slap on the back. "...thanks for making me look good out there. I appreciate the assist."

Alex looked at Vincent briefly then gave off a short laugh as he shook his head.

"I did not go easy on you, Keller. That was all you." The white smile displayed against his darkened features was quite infectious. From an aesthetic standpoint, it was easy to see why he caught Fiona's eye. "Never short sell yourself. You are a naturally strong fighter. This is one of the reason you have been chosen to be among us."

Vincent inwardly glowed at the compliment, but as his words sank in, he became disturbed by Alex's comment as his smile faded replaced by a bewildered scowl.

"Wait...what?" He laughed incredulously. "But you winked at me!"

Now it was Alex's turn to appear baffled.

"You winked first. I was being polite."

Vincent's mind was spinning as he blinks.

"So, that was actually me holding my own against...you?" He gulps audibly. "You didn't ease up on me? I eased up because I didn't want to get killed."

Alex grins and nods.

"Yes. It was a good fight. Who knows how it would have turned out if you actually knew it was a real fight." He slaps him on the back before jogging towards the barracks.

Vincent let his words sink in for a moment then frowned.

"Holy Shit!" He whispered stupefied as the reality hit him that had he just allowed himself to be defeated because he did not have enough faith in himself; a mistake he would not be repeating.. Smiling to himself he watched the activity die down as he picked up his duffel bag and slung it over his shoulder taking off in the direction of his quarters.


	2. Fractured Reflections - Chapter 2

**Fractured Reflections - Chapter 2**

 **Bagram Airfield**

 **Afghanistan Desert August 8, 2002**

After getting tossed around by Captain Faulks to determine squad leader, the recruits spent the rest of the day locating their quarters and assembling the room. Each unit had two twin beds, a small closet on each side of the room, and a kitchenette. Each floor had two latrines with showers sectioned off between male and females. Outside of the quarters stood a canteen that soldiers drank beer and shots to familiarize with the unit before hell began the next day.

Fiona left the canteen early to get some shuteye in a room she shared with Marisha Lafferty, who hails from Los Angeles, California. The two shared common ground, which includes a mother dying when they were young and raising a brother as their father works. It was easy to relate to her and Fiona felt they were becoming fast friends, which felt comforting. Since arriving in Afghanistan pre-911, anyone she got close to got new orders or Fiona sent to another unit. Although it was the Army way of life, it was still difficult on her soul to grow fond of someone and they disappear without an explanation.

As Fiona tosses and turns in bed for an hour, she jumps up and paces. It wasn't discomfort as the beds were the coziest thing she slept on in over a year. She just felt restless despite being tired. She looks around and hears nothing but whispering winds. In comparison to living in Hell's Kitchen where there was noise of garbage cans, neighbors fighting, and a frequent siren. The fact no one drops an f-bomb for flavor can make her a little nervous. It might seem strange, but a lifelong New Yorker comes to expect these things. As annoying as it is at night, it was the white noise that people slept to. In other locale, she was able to sleep against the ambient noise of nature's animals and latter didn't bring comfort, but it was it was something.

She sits down to put on her a partial BDU with only her t-shirt. She hopes that a walk would clear her senses and help her sleep. The night air was cooler with 29 celsius, but the air still swelters around her. The base enclosed enough for her to walk around alone, which helps with the safety factor. Since the units were not in sight of the perimeter fence, the recruits were allowed to leave their quarters within reason.

When she steps outside and strolls, she smiles at the setup of the base.

"This would be great for skateboarding." she thought to herself as she examines the surroundings. Once the coast was clear, she ran towards a piling and vaults across the top before breaking into a roll before landing on her feet. She hasn't practiced her parkour tricks in a while, but it gave her a sense of home for a brief few moments. Instead of being overseas with war all around, her mind was in Hell's Kitchen with kids cheering her on as she practice for Parkour championships. She spent an hour in sanctioned areas vaulting and jumping off walls like a cat. She finally takes a short leap off a wall and bends down to catch her breath from the exertion.

Her mind was so focus on home that a single applause caught her off guard. She spun around into a defensive stance before seeing Alex standing there. She immediately went to attention and saluted a superior officer.

Alex laughs and provides the customary return salute.

"At ease, Lieutenant." he grins, but also gave away hints of his accent. While the two did speak before, he spoke with a neutral accent, which made it difficult to sense where he came from. However, the way he talks now sounds familiar. "I'm here on official business, but you may speak freely."

"Official business, huh?" Fiona laughs as she knew the exact reason. She attempts to remain respectful, but he appears before her informally. While there were no rules against this as long as it doesn't lead to conduct unbecoming, it actually help drop her guard. Was the man smiling? His body language was at ease, which help her ease down at well. "I've only been here for a few hours. What laws did I break besides drinking?"

"Officially, there is no alcohol in the canteen." he spoke. Given the Islamic rules about alcohol, there were restrictions on alcohol within Afghanistan. However, Muirfield made an exception for reasons unknown, which was a delight to soldiers who have already seen hell. "There are some that might consider your stunts as vandalism…"

Fio's mouth gapes open. She never hits the building hard enough to cause damage. She was known for exceptionally light feet, which didn't hurt when she went towards champions. However, a wagging eyebrow from Alex gave her a sigh of relief. She would smack him if MPs wouldn't arrest her for striking a superior officer.

"I must say, you are quite good at those stunts. I hardly see any polish on the walls. Otherwise, I might have to scrub those walls, which can get quite wet."

She blinks her eyes at the comment, but brushes it off as a warning. Wetness during the day might be a relief, but the cooler night could harm the body. Therefore, she went towards the compliment.

"Oh, thank you sir." she smiles proudly. "It's called Urban Parkour. Started when I was ten to keep me away from boys and drugs. I've won two trophies for group presentation and eleven individuals."

"I knew I was right about you. Your stealth and ability to scale walls efficiently makes you an asset in this project. With a little more training, you'll be unstoppable."

Fiona folds her arms and gives him an enigmatic grin.

"Oh, I didn't stop you by taking your gun away? I'm pretty sure I did and you never saw it coming."

"Can't say that I did." he smiles as he approaches her. "And that brings me to the reason I am here. I really need my weapon back."

"Well, I was hoping to keep it as a trophy." she spoke teasingly for a moment. She knew that he was responsible for all of his equipment. The government can hold him fiscally responsible if he loses it in a careless fashion. "But I suppose you need it to keep rescuing some privates from caves."

Fiona scans her badge on quarters and opens the door. Alex follows suit and swipes his badge as well. She raises an eyebrow, but actually respect his desire for protocol. In the world of plastic surgery, anyone can be made to look that good. His accent did change from earlier, so who knows who he truly is. She knew someone could try to steal his access card, but she doubts they would get far. As difficult it was for people to get his gun, she doubt he would ease up on an access card that grants entry to restricted areas.

He nods his head and follows her to the elevator. He was back to his man of few words, but she actually likes that. There were people back home who talk the talk, but fail the walk. She could tell by Alex's actions that he was a gentlemen and means what he says. However, he did give her a look over. It wasn't ogling, which pisses her off because it shows absolutely no class. It was a brief examination, which she couldn't complain as she did the same to him. She was suppressing a grin because any acknowledge might lead to a breach in protocol.

Once the doors close, Fiona turns towards him and smiles.

"So, I have been curious." her expression made it clear that she apprehensive in asking. "I 've been thinking that you look like a Native American or Hawaiian."

She leans against the wall and stares at him trying to gage his reaction. She didn't want to offend him. For a brief moment, she also wonders what it would be like to be pressed against the wall by those muscles and kissed furiously. This base was the wrong place for these fantasies or offensive questions.

"It's been bugging you huh?" he leans against the wall and crosses his arms. "Why do you want to know?"

She got a reprieve when the doors open and Alex makes his exit. He had a good stride, but Fio didn't have trouble keeping up with her long legs that bounces off the floor.

"Well, I told I'm curious." she smiles at him. "Your skin tone is dark, but you don't have African American, Hispanic, or Asian dominant features. So Hawaiian?"

"Not even close." he laughs softly. "Do you want to keep guessing?"

Fio sighs and shrugs. She was usually better at figuring people out, but this man was an enigma. She closely examines his features and notices traces of weathering from extreme conditions. She saw similar features from when she went to Alaska for a Parkour competition.

"I want to say Eskimo?" Fio pitches her answer at him.

"The actual term is Inuit, but yes." he spoke with a smile. There wasn't a hint that spoke of offense, which actually shocks her. She has met some hispanics who got all fired up because she got the heritage wrong. Instead, he still had those kind eyes. "So that has been bugging you?"

Fio stops at the question. It wasn't so much the question, but the friendly warm tone it was spoken with. It almost borderlines flirting.

"Are you asking me if I've been thinking of this non-stop since meeting you this morning?" she smiles a little wickedly and leans against the wall.

"Well, you brought the subject up." he shrugs and chuckles. "I'm almost surprise you didn't mention middle eastern."

Alex realize almost too late that he had subconsciously move closer to her. He was well within her personal space, but Fiona was not subconsciously complaining. The slight touch of his rippling muscles against her shirt teases her for a moment before she regains her senses.

"I guess I did." Fiona giggles as she gives off a snort, which amuses Alex. "But I haven't been thinking about this all day. I got duties, you know. It was an observation, that is all."

"Were one of these duties observing me all day?" he teases her.

"You're really full of yourself." she laughs incredulously. She could get offended like an uppity bitch and report him to command. She wouldn't because she likes him. However, there wasn't anything sexually harassing about his comments, but rather the same jokes he would give his peers. "You really think I haven't done anything else today?"

"Since the order was to R&R until training exercises, I know you haven't done much since taking my weapon from me. Speaking of which." he grins as he holds out his hand. "Can I have it back, please?"

Fiona wrinkles her nose sulking before smiling again.

"Wait right here." she momentarily enters her room and returns with the MP5. She hands in back in a responsible fashion. "I cleaned it for you just to show there aren't any hard feelings. Borrowed a maintenance guide and all that."

"Thank you." he said shouldering his weapon and reaches into his pocket. He pulls out a neckchain with 9MM bullet with a hole drilled through it. There was a totem etch on the shell, which Fiona didn't readily recognize. He hands it to her. "There is no official medal for successfully taking my weapon from me, so here is the next best thing."

"How long have you been carrying this?" she said as she examines it. "It isn't like you would hand it out to anybody."

"Actually made it this afternoon when you weren't observing me. The totems are spirit guides that will watch out for you"

Fiona smiles and puts it around her neck.

"Thank you." she wasn't sure what to say or do.

"You're welcome." he takes a step back. "Good night, Lieutenant."

He turns around and walks towards the elevator.

"Captain." she spoke again and he turns around.

"Yes?" He look at her expectantly.

"I want to apologize for my actions this morning. It wasn't appropriate." she smiles apologetically. "I meant no disrespect."

Alex tilts his head and walks towards her.

"Well, it was the first time someone flashed me to finish their objectives, but that is what counts. The object was to take the weapon my weapon away, which many have failed. You assessed the situation and took a unique approach. Unconventional, but the type of thinking that saves lives. It was brilliant."

Fiona was almost blushing.

"Thank you, sir."

Alex just wants to tell her to call him by his first name, but it was against protocols. A personal relationship with a lower ranking officer was inappropriate and grounds for court martials. Instead, he nods politely and said good night once again before walking towards the building. He was making every effort not to turn around, which would admit his attraction to her. The days were going to be difficult.

Fiona stood there smitten as she admires his muscular frame. He and Keller had equally handsome looks, but Alex's fierceness and soft spoken nature makes her wonder how deep his still waters ran.

"Goodnight Alex." she whispers without realizing that she called him by his first name instead of last name and rank. She slinks in the room and gets cozy into the bed. The Colonel promised hell and fury for training, so some sleep was advised.

 **Present Day**

 **New York City, SoHo District**

As Vincent walks past her, Cat senses something is off. There was no pulling her into his arms and kissing her. There wasn't even a greeting or joke. He just drift past her with his eyes distant. He brushed it off as a bad night at the hospital. Cat knew what those nights were like. She had days at the precinct that had her questioning humanity. However, something seemed different than his answer. Between war overseas and at home, a rough night should pale in comparison. Something else was the matter.

He didn't sleep that night or the next. Whenever Cat woke up in an empty bed, she found him browsing the internet. He claimed he was researching a case at the hospital. He had not outright lied to her, but he had omitted portions of the story for her safety in the past. She was worried he was doing it again, but she didn't want to push him too much.

The third night was the breaking point. The clock said 2:48 in the morning, which she sighs at. She rips herself from cozy bed and puts on her robe.

"Enough of this shit." she grumbles before stomping towards the living room. She gets a view of Vincent watching TV in his boxers. She didn't mind the view except for his obsessive munching on Cheetos. The dust residue on his chest made her want to hurl whatever they had for dinner. She walks in front of the TV and crosses her arms.

"You're awake again?" she stares at him. Despite how sexy she looks with her chocolate flowing hair on her arms and tank top/lounge pants combo, he could tell she was crossed. "This is three nights in a row. If you don't sleep, I don't sleep. What the hell is going on?"

Vincent knew he was in trouble by her tone, so he attempts to laugh it off.

"It's nothing, babe. Just a little insomnia. Go back to sleep so we are not both awake." he said flashing his disarming grin before going back to Cheetos. She groans in disgust.

"Bullshit!" she says as she grabs the bag and remote from him. "This thing has gone on long enough. We haven't slept in three days! You go to work and you come home like you spent the entire shift treating every possible patient in New York. This thing is not healthy and I am not even the doctor in this relationship!" she said before looking at the bag. "You don't even like Cheetos!"

Vincent leans forward and shrugs.

"Well, we are out of pretzels." he attempts to look cute to soften her anger, but her glare gave him his answer. "You're incredibly sexy when you're angry. Has anybody told you that? You got this little wrinkle in your nose."

Cat threw the bag at him with full force, which spilt quite a few Cheetos on him and the couch. He looks stunned at the floor and stares right back at Cat.

"Hey!" she shouts incredulously as he rubs his forehead. "What the hell?"

"Ok,this is what going to happen." she spoke as she pulls him off the couch and directs him to the bathroom. "You are going to shower to get all that Saliva-Cheetos dust off you. Seriously, it is gross. When you are nice and clean, we are going to talk about this."

Vincent tries to protest, but Cat pushes him towards the bathroom.

"Go now!"

"Yes, dear." Vince groans and shuts the door. When she got into the "Pushing Vincent" mood, there was no arguing with her.

Moments later, Vincent emerges from the shower clean and relaxed. However, the dark circles existing in his eyes still troubled Cat. He crashes on the couch and looks at Cat with a smile.

"Happy?"

"Well, I am happy you are nice and clean." she giggles as she strokes his face. "But we need to talk about what is going on so we can both get some sleep." she stares hard at him. "What is going on?"

Vincent closes his eyes and deeply sighs before shaking his head.

"I don't know." he gravely answers before looking back at her. "And I don't have the foggiest idea how to explain it."

Cat nods and sits beside him, running her fingers through his hair.

"Just try. Maybe we can figure this out together." she spoke softly and gave a half smile.

"Let me put it this way." he speaks before pausing for a moment. "Have you ever gone to a crime scene and had a feeling you were missing something? A piece of evidence was right there and you gut tells you this, but you don't have a clue what or where it is?"

Cat nods.

"Yes," she looks at him with thoughtful silence before softly smiling. "Like you know if you had that information, you could break the case wide open."

Vincent sighs in relief at Cat's answer. He felt she understood his dilemma and it relaxes him more.

"That's exactly it! It is like your mind won't allow you to see it; something deep down is keeping it from revealing itself." he stood and paces as he exhales loudly. "Ok, now think of that without any of the physical elements involved."

Any understanding Cat may of had was lost at that last statement.

"I'm not sure I'm following you." she stands up to walk towards him and caress his shoulders. Her jubilant dark eyes stares into his. "Baby, just tell me what this is about."

Without any warning, a deep guttural growl escaped his lips. Cat's eyes flashes open in surprise since it was the least of her expectations. She flinched as his hands grew tighter around her arms and his nails embedded into her skin. The soft yellow eyes made a stark contrast in the dark room and his face was a mass of malevolent anger. No matter how many times she has seen him beast-out, it was never anything predictable. It was always a horror show in the making because it was hard to tell where on the primal line he was.

She knew he loved her and that he would never intentionally hurt her. The intentionally part was the key word because he does not always control himself and havoc ensues. Cat releases his shoulder steps back. Despite them being married, she knew when to back away. If he felt threatened, it would create a difficulty in calming down.

She passively put her hands up to signal his primal brain she is not a threat. Over the years, she gotten to know the Jekyll and Hyde of Vincent Keller. She has also gotten insight how his primal brain works and how to not provoke it.

"Vincent, baby. Please stop." she maintain her calmness. In order to implore him, she cannot be frantic. It would only excite the beast in him if he saw her as a prey. "You need to get this under control. Look at me."

Despite her best effort, anxiety still hit her voice. After seeing how Liam was a ruthless killer, it wasn't a stretch to think that one wrong move can send Vincent over that edge.

"Vincent, look at me. Control it! You cannot allow it to control you!"

Vincent turns towards her with his hideous alter ego staring at her. He slowly moves towards her as if he was trying to make a kill.

"Catherine, get out of here!" Vincent shouted. As much as she enjoy cat and mouse in the bedroom, she could tell this was not one of those times. However, Vincent warning her made her feel that he was still there.

"No, Vincent!" she crosses her arms at him. "You've worked hard to control this, so you are going to fight it!"

He responds with a loud growl that sends saliva flying towards her. Cat covers her face to protect against the flying fluids. When the growling stops, she lowers her arms and groans at the saliva dripping from her skin.

"God Dammit!" she shouts.

Vincent cocks his head and stares at Cat to show his bewilderment at the outburst. He slowly relaxes until he was himself. Everything but the familiar coppery smell of blood.

Cat grabs a towel from the bedroom and wipes herself off. She shakes her head at him.

"I don't want your spit all over me!" she shouts and throws the towel at him before realizing something was off. "Vincent! You're bleeding."

Vincent could tell from the look of horror on her face this nosebleed was not simple. It was starting to come from his ears and nose in significant quantities

"Vincent, my god!" she shouts as she runs to grab the tissues. "You got to tell me what is going on."

Vincent lays back on the couch and scoffs as Cat nurses his nose and ears.

"It's not like I don't want to tell you." he stares down and sighs. "How can I explain it if I don't understand it myself?"

Cat scoots in and takes his hand. She caresses it as he softly stares at him.

"Let's go back to the beginning. When did this all start and what brought it on?."

Vincent leans back as closes his eyes.

"Four days ago, a patient came through the ER. Young guy, mid to late 20's, brutally beaten. We rushed to stabilize him before getting surgery involved. After that, they operated on him for seven hours. It was awful. Three ribs with one puncturing his lung causing it to collapse. Multiple fractures and swelling all over the place. " he runs his hands through his hair. "He's stable for the moment, but that can change at any moment. Whoever did this, fucked him up real good."

Cat listens to him, but gets perplexed as he went on.

"Vincent." she giggles and shrugs. "This is a day in the life of Dr. Vincent Keller in New York. How is this relevant?"

"I'm getting there." he spoke in a manner that he was building up the story. "I checked on him when I did my rounds the next day. The chart state his name is Jacob Conner Jr. I never met him or anyone with that name before, but that name has been raising red flags in my head. Something I am supposed to know with my own life depending on it and it is not coming in."

Cat moves closer to him and cups his hands as she senses his agitation. He didn't seem in danger of going into Beast mode again, but it was best to help him keep calm.

"I'm supposed to see something in the picture and I can feel it right there. All I have to do is remember it."

"Vincent, you have to calm down. Your anxiety is taking control of you and going Shrek is not going to help matters. Relax and let it come to you." she caresses his face and leans close to him.

"I know." he says leaning back and taking a deep breath. Cat's words were catching up to him when he shifts towards her with a smile. "Shrek? Did you really just call me Shrek?" he gives a small chuckle at the mention of the cartoon.

"Well, you kind of look just like him when you go all beast on me." she smiles and gently kisses his lips.

"Great, just great." Vincent grumbles between kisses. "Even at my worse, you find a way to make me lovable."

"Well…" Cat smiles as she slides her hands under his shirt and teases his skin. "If you are Shrek, that makes me Princess Fiona." she leans to kiss him but he moves away suddenly. His entire mood went from playful to serious in a split second.

"What did you say?" he whispers unsure of what he felt.

"Princess Fiona." smiles tentatively and bewildered by his response. "You know, the Princess who he finds out is an ogre…"

Vincent places his hands over face and sighs with vexation.

"Sweetie, I know who Princess Fiona is. But…" he starts as he stands up. However, he begins to swoon and grabs a wall to steady himself. Blood starts to flow through his nose and he grabs his head with both hands. He screams in anguish as Cat bolts up towards him.

"Vincent?" she tries to reach him as she moves around. "Oh god! Vincent!?"

The only benefit of a doubt is that police training gave her decent upper body strength. Cat has fond memories of one of Tess' first remarks towards her was about her lacking in that department. Her sarcastic wit as Cat work the pullups during Police Academy gave her happy memories. It also gave her the ability to lug her husband to bed.

She starts to clean him up while he groans.

"Babe, I'm fine" he protests and wipes the blood from his nose. "It is just a sleep deprivation. And the nosebleeds…" a blood curdling scream interrupted his sentence as a stream of blood flows from his ear this time.

"Vincent, stop self-diagnosing! You're clearly not fine! People who feel fine don't have projectile blood coming from their nose and ears." she scolds him as she lays him on the bed. She runs to the kitchen to get a damp cloth and returns. "You are to lay down for the rest of the night! No moving! None at all!"

"Oh jesus." he snarls like a wounded animal. "Would you stop fussing over me?!"

"No! You married me because I will fuss over you among other reasons!" she shakes her head as tears begin to form. She tried to keep the conversation light that moment, but it was taking a strain on her. "Vincent, you're scaring me! You're beasting out and you can't curb your shifts after you've worked so hard to take control of it. Whatever this is…"

She didn't finish her sentence when Vincent growls fiercely and runs towards the bathroom leaving a trail of blood. Cat jumps up and follows him cautious. She enters to see Vincent sitting on a toilet with rubber hose around his arm and injecting a syringe into his arm.

She had seen that scenario too many times as a cop. A deadbeat who does something horrible for a heroin fix. It was strange that Cat's mind shifts to that because she always thought Vincent was better than that.

"What the hell are you doing?" she yells out with her arms crossed. If he was having bleeding issues, heroin was not going to help.

Vincent turns around and shows a small bottle of yellow liquid. It was not any substance she has seen on the market, but she did recognize it.

"Fixing this before I have a cerebral hemorrhage." he speaks as he places the bottle closer to her and pulls the tubing off. "It is the serum JT made from Liam's blood. What did you think I was doing?"

Cat stood there embarrassed at what she thought it was. The lack of sleep had made her eyes miss the color of the syringe and thought the worst. Vincent leans back as the shift back to normal. She was thanking god it worked, but it was a crap shoot. Vincent's color was returning to normal and bouncing back to his normal grumpiness.

She jumps into his laps and wraps his arms around him. Relieved that the serum had worked and not sent him over the edge. She had lost enough people in her life. She didn't need to lose Vincent.

"Thank god."

Vincent embraces her into his arms and holds her close. He caress his wife's hair and snuggles her into his strong arms. They both stand up when Cat surprises him with a smack to the face. The loveydovey moment was gone for the moment.

""Hey." he shouts as he rubs his jawbone. "What the hell was that for?"

"For not clueing me in. You just came in and shoot yourself up with some shit you didn't know would work? What if it didn't? And when did you get that stuff? You know what it looked like!?"

"But it did work." he gave a sensuous grin and kisses her neck. He knew her mind was frantic with all the crap in the past. He slides his hands under her night shirt to give her something more pleasant to think about.

"But what if it didn't?" Cat spoke knowing it was a losing battle against the Keller charm. Why did she has to fall in love with such a charmer like him. Things get scary and he charms her into everything is ok. She wasn't about to let him have the last word. "You know, you can really be…"

"But it did." he cuts her off before engulfing her lips with his own. She surrenders to her passion and softly kisses him before it turns fierce. She pulls his shirt off and slid her fingers over his skin. He moans softly as her fingers strokes his lean chest before reaching lower to unbutton his jeans.

Burying his face in her neck, Vincent's hands slid up the back of her nightshirt to massage her bare back as she kissed his neck. Her hands slipped into his jeans as Vincent stepped back for a moment to pull off her nightshirt shirt and step out of his pants before pulling her into his arms again, enjoying the feel of his skin against hers. They kissed again, more hungrily than before as his hands slid down her back, cupping her buttocks and pressing her hips against his.

Catherine pulled her head away from his for a moment, staring into his eyes. She leaned against him, kissing his neck, as she slid down. Vincent closed his eyes as she kissed his chest, then stomach before moving further down, her lips and tongue making him gasp with pleasure. He grasped her shoulder with one hand, wrapping his fingers in her hair with the other, moaning as her mouth and tongue massaged his most sensitive part. Breathing heavily, he pressed on her shoulder and head, guiding her lips back up to his own, pressing himself against her as they stumbled towards the bed falling across it, him lying on top of her with her legs around his waist. Vincent's lips traveled down her neck to her chest and breasts, cupping them in his hands while he kissed and teased them. He had always loved that they were perfect; soft, rounded, supple and sensitive to his touch and how perfectly they fit in his hands.

He slid his hands down further, pulling off her underwear before letting one hand slide between her legs. He heard her gasp and felt her arch her back underneath him as his fingers entered her and moved in and out of her body. Vincent gasped as her hand stroked him, feeling his body throb as her fingers glided across him teasingly. He allowed his mouth to travel down her breasts to her belly, hearing her breath quicken as his fingers moved faster inside of her. As his mouth slid down her belly, to join his hands, Catherine arched her back as though being pulled by the heavens, moaning loudly as she clutched the sheets beneath her. Vincent could hear her heart pounding loudly in his sensitive ears, and the sounds of her nails clawing at the silken fabric of the sheets as his tongue probed and teased her. He heard her breathing heavily between moans of pleasure, his hands grasping her hips, massaging her thighs. When she cried out and started to shake, he slid his body up hers, his mouth moving across her belly, her breasts, her neck before joining hers, kissing her deeply. They moaned together as he entered her, he could feel her legs tighten around his him. Her fingers dug into his back as he slowly began to rock back and forth on top of her, enjoying the sensation of her body grasping his, urging him on as she moved with him. They moved together slowly, for a few moments, savoring the feeling of their bodies together.

They began to move faster, crying out with pleasure at each thrust. Catherine moaned even louder and began to tremble underneath Vincent, her fingers grasping at his hips. Moments after she began to orgasm, Vincent did the same, moaning with a final aching thrust as he bent his head into her shoulder, almost as if in prayer, whispering unintelligible words of devotion as Catherine rested her head on his shoulder, her eyes closed, her face peaceful and calm.

They lay like that together, neither moving for a few minutes, neither of them saying a word as they held each other, listening to their pounding hearts slow and their breathing return to normal. Finally Vincent rolled onto his side, pulling Catherine with him, their arms still wrapped around another, their foreheads touching as they stared into each other's eyes. As he lay beside her, feeling her leg thrown across his hip, her foot sliding sensuously up and down the back of his calf, Vincent smiled at her as his eyes began to flutter shut.

"I love you, Catherine." He whispered softly while allowing his finger to trace her soft lips.

A smile spread across Catherine's lips as she stared into his own eyes.

"I love you, Vincent." She murmured faintly as her own eyes fluttered shut. "But I want you to call JT in the morning..."

She was answered by low, rumbled, breathing as Vincent had fallen into a deep sleep.

As Vincent slept,he tossed and turned while a flashes of light pulsed through his head.

"Who are you?" He whispers aloud and wakes Cat up. She sits up and rubs her eyes at the sight. Vincent rarely talks in his sleep. Additionally, the way he was thrashing around with desperation in his voice guaranteed she wasn't sleeping tonight either. She climbs out of bed to grab a notepad and pen to record his mumblings. She sat beside him with concern in her eyes. She has seen him in different states, which includes fugue. This one was entirely new to her.

As Vincent dreams, fractured images try to reconcile memories that had been suppressed. Each fleeting memory involves a young woman, which brought recognition. There were Lieutenant bars on her uniform with similar emblems. It had to be someone he served with in Afghanistan, but how can he forget her? Despite a majority of memories were serious, there were moments when she had a smile that brought warmth and comfort through a turbulent storm. Her pretty face was offset by light green eyes that reminds him of a cat he once had if he also had long reddish black hair. Why was she nearly blank in his mind? Was she a former lover or a friend?

As more familiarity gained ground, the memory starts to come to life. Insurgents were opening fire on them with mortars and rifle fire. Their team manages to find cover behind boulders, but the shelling was sending debris in their direction. He turns towards a nearby person.

"Here! Let's take cover in here until the bombings stop." he speaks to nearby person.

"No! I'm not going in there!" A female voice answers with anxiety filling her. "I can't do it Vince! I'll freak out!"

Vincent stops moving and turns to stare at the unseen person in disbelief.

"Are you crazy?" He scowls at her staggering. "Conner, there are mortars blasting all over the place. If we don't take cover, our guts are going to be splattered all over these rocks!"

Despite her not becoming clearly visible to him, he knew the voice. Despite being tear filled, it had that Hell's Kitchen cadence he knows well.

"Please, I'm serious. I can't handle small spaces." her terrified voice echoed. "You go right ahead and I'll just take my chances."

It was rare for Fio to admit fear. He has seen her scale and jump place with a 300 foot drop without a second thought. To see her shaking and close to tears was unnerving.

At that moment, the mortars increase it intensity, but not before Vincent pulls her into the caves.

"Negative Conner! I'm not leaving you out there, Fio! If anything happens to you it's on me and I'm not willing to live with that."

His dreams goes blank for a moment and his subconscious searches.

"Fio." Vincent whispers in his sleep. "No…you can't stay out here."

Cat blinks at the mention of the name Fio wondering if it was a man or woman he was dreaming of.

The memories return to his dream as it starts forming images again. He has Fio in his arms offering reassurance. It was more a platonic hug that everyone needs in time of stress.

Conner buries her head into his chest as tears fall down.

"If you ever tell anybody you saw me like this…." He began to recognize the woman more as her light green eyes and fair skin became clearer. Her hair has fallen out of bun due to fighting, which now has sweat and dirt dripping into already muddled face.

Vincent gives his trademark laugh and smiles has he holds her close.

"I won't tell a soul." he says before leading her deeper into the cavern. "As much you don't want to be outside, I'm terrified of loud noises. So how about we keep each other's secret. Deal?"

The girl raises an eyebrow suspiciously as she backs out of his arms.

"No blackmail...at any time? Right, Vinny?" she holds out her hand grinning wryly as she relaxes.

"You got yourself a deal, _Fiona_." He scowls as she knew he hated to be called Vinny as much as she hated to be called her full first name.

Cat watches him relax a little more, but still doesn't stop the concern.

"Fiona." He whispers in his sleep. "Don't call me Vinny!"

His voice came across louder as Cat furrows her brow writing down his words.

"And you are going to have some splainin to do about this Fiona when you wake up." She whispers gruffly. "And I will call you Vinny for the rest of your life just to piss you off if you are dreaming about an old girlfriend!"

Continuing to dream, Vincent smiles at Fiona.

"Well, this isn't so bad, is it." He gave her a gentle squeeze of the shoulder then furrows his brow as another scatter of bullets echoed through the caves causing Vincent to place his hands over his ears. "I take that back…this is just hell!"

He shouted then leaned over looking at Fio's radar device.

"Any walkers in the area?"

"Negative." She replied as she continued to study the blips on the screen. The screen began to fade in and out adding to Fio's already raging anxiety.

"FUCK!" She shouted and hit the unit along its side with her palm, cursing with every slap.

Vincent's eyes grew wide hearing the words coming out of her.

"And you kiss your mother with that mouth?" He jested attempting to lighten the moment.

"Eat my shorts, Keller." She retorts without lifting her eyes from trying to repair the device. "God, I wish my brother was here."

"Because you miss him or because he can fix stuff?"

"Both." She flashes a smile at him then reached into her pack and pulled out a photo of a girl who was 11 or 12 holding onto a boy who was 5 or 6. "That's the Jakester." She giggles as she passed the photo to him. "He has been a techno geek since he came out of womb. He can fix just about anything. And now he is 16 and could probably hack into the pentagon if he didn't fear prison." She rolls her eyes. "He thinks he's too pretty." She grinned. "And he is."

Vincent took the photo from her and studied it for a moment.

"Yeah, he looks like he had the market on the toddler chick scene. Cute kid." He stares at her and back at the photo for a moment. "Was there ever a time when you weren't smoking hot?"

Fio stops working for a moment then looks up at him repugnantly.

"Holy Crap Keller! I was 12! What is wrong with you?" She shook her head as she looks back at the screen. "Pedophile!" She muttered playfully under her breath as Vincent burst out laughing.

"Ok! That is NOT how I meant it and you know it!" Vincent attempts to back-pedal out realizing how it sounded. "But even for a 12-year-old, you knew even then how to make those green eyes work for you."

She grimaces and shudders.

"Ok, I think this would be an ideal time for an abrupt subject change since this one is about to land you in hell. "

From the first day he had met her on the airstrip, Vincent had formed a deep friendship with Conner. At first sighting, Vincent was interested because of her good looks alone; but as time went on, she became so much more to him; as an early riser, Vincent was always up at the crack of dawn. Each morning Fiona was up before anybody in the unit checking with Col Phillips and Cpt Faulks for enemy activity in the area and what training exercises she should brief the team with over breakfast. Even though Vincent didn't have leadership responsibilities within the squad, Fiona often confides in him with her concerns about the proximity of the Taliban hostiles. Additionally, she had her reservations about Muirfield and felt they didn't get the full truth on the injections and side effects. Vincent reassures her that the medical staff states the injections are safe and to stop worrying.

In hindsight, he wishes he took heed to those concerns.

"Muirfield…don't trust." He mumbles in his sleep.

Cat looks up from her writing as though an alarm had been set off by hearing those words again.

"Muirfield." She whispers to herself as she picked up her phone frantically typing out a text to JT.

Cat – JT I need you to look at Vincent – URGENT

JT – How urgent? Get over her right now urgent? Go back to bed and finish your REM cycle JT and come over after you are well rested urgent?

Cat – URGENT! Like in get your ass over here yesterday, JT! I'll explain in detail when you get here.

JT – On my way.

As Vincent continues to dream, his last image of Fiona Conner was standing outside the canteen where their squad spent much of their time when they weren't training or in battle with enemy. The moment brought to mind many times Fiona had left to return to her quarters; however this memory was linked to an event that instilled a sense of foreboding as she walked away. She begins to fade from his sight.

"Fiona…don't go…don't go Fiona…" His voice grew louder and more anxious. "FIONA NO!"

He sat straight up in bed and screamed as tears streamed down his face.

"Vincent." Cat threw her phone onto the dresser and went to hold him as he sobbed. "Baby…it's ok…you're here with me…it's ok."

She strokes his hair and face. Tears ran down her own face; she had never seen him this way and it frighten her.

"I didn't listen to you! Fiona! Why didn't I listen?" Vincent was hyperventilating as Cat attempted to calm him.

Placing her hands on his shoulder, Cat looked into his eyes.

"Vincent…baby…I need you to calm down. Whatever happened was a long time ago. You are here with me now. Stay with me…"

Vincent's face twisted into a terrifying snarl as he pushes Cat backwards onto the pillows then stood up. He stares at Cat for a moment who stared back with horrified eyes before emitting a resonating growl as he ran for the door.

"Vincent! NO!" She cries out as she stood up to run after him.

Before Vincent could get through the door, he was met by JT. JT didn't hesitate to fire tranq darts into each of his legs.

"Sorry buddy, but you aren't going anywhere."

Vincent looks up at JT as he fell to the floor.

"You son of a bitch." He groans as he fell into a deep sleep.

JT looks at Cat puzzled by the current state of affairs.

"What in the hell kind of sex are you two having?" He shouted incredulously.

Cat tilts her head at JT and throws a pillow at him.

 _ **End of Chapter 2**_


	3. Chapter 3

_Hi! Sorry for my long break between chapters. I have had some health issues which makes it difficult to write as often as I would like. But feeling better and hopefully chapters will be fore-coming._

 _ **Bagram Airfield Afghanistan  
**_ _ **September 21, 2002**_

"The weather started getting rough, the tiny ship was tossed, if not for the courage of the fearless crew, the Minnow would be lost… the Minnow would be lost…"

Five voices echo in a rock cavern, which lays near the Syr Darya River in the Uzbekistan desert. Those individuals have managed to build a camp and a fire, which each member sat around to serenade popular TV shows' theme songs. Willie "Memphis" Ryder provided the acoustics with his guitar, the one luxury item he was allowed to bring.

This was survival training - day 1 of 5.

It was standard procedure to teach the recruits how to handle themselves in hostile conditions, which would make an encampment or base the a five star hotel in comparison. Six teams were made with five people each. Fiona Conner lead Team Charlie and included Vincent Keller, Marisha Lafferty, Willie Ryder, and Miguel Rodriguez. Fiona felt confident in leading her team to successful completion, but she wondered about a few of them. One of them being Vincent Keller.

However, she laughs along with the group as they assign nicknames based on their mad skills or hometown. It was obvious where "Memphis" came from. Along with the fruits and melons, they were roasting a fresh sidewinder over the fire. Early that day, the sidewinder almost ended Marisha's career if the woman had not reacted quickly and use her unique knife skills to end the snake first. Since that point, the group started calling her " _Navaja"_ or the Spanish word for Blade.

However, the day didn't begin with this wondrous jubilee. After the assignment and selection of a luxury item, teams were flown to remote sections of the desert via Blackhawks. They wore hoods to avoid knowing the location approximately from base, which makes it essential to use all forms of orienteering. The only clothes they were wearing, two canteens for each person, and basic survival gear such as water purification tablets. Each team was dropped in different locations to avoid cooperation to simulate the exercise. For five days, each team would rely on each other for food, shelter, and water, which is not easy in the middle of an unforgiving desert with sand drifts ranging from three to thirty meters in height.

The Uzbekistan desert stood north between Afghanistan and Kazakhstan. After coordinating their location, the team knew that the Syr Darya river was a fifteen mile hike. The weather was an advantage with cooler temperatures, which 18 Celsius was considerably comfortable in comparison to back at base. However, the trek to the river was a challenge given the terrain.

Once they had completed their journey to the river, finding shelter was simplified by an assemblage of large rocks close to the river banks that provided shade and easy shelter by layering branches and bark over the top of the rocks.

Once the journey was complete, the team was able to assemble shelter with large rocks and nearby fallen trees. The task was still arduous, but no one complained. Despite the exhaustion and dehydration, the team work efficiently to complete the necessary tasks to survive. It would be easier given the exhaustion for fights to breakout, but Fio kept the morale and discipline up. She made it clear that no one wants to walk fifteen miles in a desert, but they need each other to survive the task. It was suggested by her that infighting was unproductive because no one wants to hear anybody bitch, which meant that they should complete the task so they can rest. This mission objective help focus everyone's mind and found ways to keep the morale up with dirty jokes and songs to make the time go faster. She also allowed for breaks to allow for mild relaxation and assessment, which made the time move efficiently.

While each of them have water sanitation packs, it did not make securing clean water any easier. The river was contaminated due to lack of recent rainfall, which would cause the group to run out of packs before day three in an optimistic point of view. However, each member thought about the possibility of a poor ratio of sanitizer to bad water source prior to the trip. Rodriguez remember lessons of Chinese immigrants on the railroad and used a lighter to boil the water for sanitizing. Fio brought a small container of bleach, which a few small drops would decontaminate any contagions. Vincent brought additional gauze outside the group medical pack, which could filter the water through. Thanks to the planning, they had a method of cleaning the water to slake their thirst as well as have a roaring fire for the cold desert night.

Unbeknownst to the recruits, members of the Delta Attachment and medical staff were stationed nearby in case of emergencies. While survival training is meant to test the recruits, there are incidents that can occur outside the requirements. If a member is injured or ill, it will require an immediate medical evac that only the medical team can perform. There is also the possibility of insurgents traveling between borders that might target the recruits. The Delta Force soldiers were there to ensure that doesn't happen.

Captain Faulks monitors Conner's team. Although Alex clearly had more than professional interest in Fio, he did not request to be their guard. However, he didn't refuse the orders because it would jeopardize both of their careers, which was counterproductive. He felt he could remain professional as he monitors the team from a distance.

"Ok, does anybody know the theme song to The Love Boat?" Willie shouts over the laughter as the other's groaned at his request.

"Da hell?" Marisha Lafferty laughs and shouts back. "Don't you mean sailing with the has-been "D" listers?" She hollers back as the others broke out into laughter.

"Whaaaaat?" Willie bellows back at her. "That show was the SHIT!"

"It was shit alright!" She snorts. "Bullshit!"

"You don't know classic TV when you see it, Mari!" He broke out into a dance and spun around like the bartender on the show, then points to her as he came to a stop. "Isaac the bartender – he was the man!"

Everyone broke into applause as he finished his dance.

"Nobody cares about your ratchet show, Willie!" She retorts. "Go back to the rest home, old man!"

By now Fiona has lost interest in their continued banter and looks down at her area map to scout for food the following day. That sidewinder and fruit would hold them over for the night, but they would be tired and grumpy the following day with the requirement of more protein. She looks up briefly then shakes her head and smiles as her squad broke out into laughter.

After a moment, Fio realizes that Vincent was not cutting up with the rest of the group. Not that this was unusual; Vincent made every effort to join in the antics, but most could tell his heart wasn't in it. Fiona could sense there was sadness about him, and although he was always present at the activities, he was usually either studying or at the gym. Vincent was never stand-offish and did not reject any company. However, he usually kept to himself.

He was noticeably absent with the group, which cause Fiona to be concerned. She does a brief search and finds him against a nearby rock formation. Fio slithers over to not interrupt the festivities and joins Vincent.

"Hey." She smiles and speak softly as not to intrude on him "Are you ok over here?"

Vincent looks up startled.

"Yeah." He laughs and nods seemingly embarrassed he snuck away without letting anyone know. "Sorry, I just needed a little time to…"

He pauses for a moment, which allows Fiona to shake her head.

"No explanation necessary. We're all in each other's faces for 12 hours a day; sometimes we just need a break from each other." She extends her hand toward the place beside him as she smiles. "So is this patch of sand taken?"

Vincent grins and give a soft chuckle.

"All yours." He gestures at the spot giving it a pat. "Take a seat."

"Thanks." She giggles softly as she slid down the rock taking a place beside him. "So, I don't want to get in the middle of your stuff and I don't want to pry….you don't have to tell me anything, but if you need to talk to anybody…" She turns slightly in his direction. "Just know I'm here…ok?"

He smiles and wraps his arm around her shoulder giving her a gentle squeeze.

"Thanks Fio." He looks at her for a moment. "You have been a very good friend…and SO."

Fio looks at his arm on her shoulder then looks up at him raising an eyebrow.

"Am I considering this a friendly hug, or a grope?"

"Maybe both?" He wiggles his eyebrows. "I don't see you complaining."

Fiona chuckles looking slightly uncomfortable.

"Not complaining. But I don't want to mess up a perfectly good friendship by making things weird between us."

Vincent started to remove his arm from her shoulders.

"Sorry." He grinned sheepishly. "and truth be told it really was just a friendly hug."

She giggles at his embarrassment.

"I never said you had to take your arm away….I was just messing with you." She pulled his arm back to her and sat watching the stars. "Wow." She breathes with astonishment. "Living in New York, I forget the stars exist sometimes."

"Yeah." He smiles softly…the moment had gone from feeling awkward to two friends enjoying a moment away from the war. "I love the city, but you know when I see an infinite constellation…I'm just staggered…and the thought of this all going on forever….it's just…"

"Mind-blowing." Fiona's words flows into his sentence unintentionally and without effort. Both realizing this, they look at each other and laugh.

"Do you ever get the idea we knew each other in a different life?" Vincent lightly chuckles. "Maybe we were siblings?"

"Or a pair of bickering old ladies?" She giggles. "Wait! I know…we were a couple of barrio bums from the Bronx! We shared a big cardboard box we built all by ourselves."

"What?" Vincent asked incredulously. "So being siblings isn't good enough? Why are we crusty old people in your fantasy? There is no shame in being young and hot siblings?"

Fio grimaces and shrugs.

"Well, from the way guys make idiots out of themselves trying to get my attention…" she covers her mouth and coughs. "**ZachHayes** …I guess I am above average in the looks department…." She turns to look at Vincent. "And you…you look like one of Zeus's sons…your features chiseled by the gods themselves…" She shifts herself so she was looking at him. "I think this is going to come out sounding really wrong…but sometimes I wish I….ah…" It was very clear that she was uncomfortable saying she was attractive. "…didn't stand out so much?"

Vincent grinned and gave a soft chuckle.

"Don't you mean smoking hot?"

Fiona blushes as she covers her face and laughs

"Well no, for starters I don't think I'm hot, so let's go with reasonably cute..." She looks up at him again. "…but the point I am trying to get at is I wish I knew if people were looking at me because they like my smile…or because I have toilet paper hanging out of my ass…" she giggles. "…and I hate knowing that guys are looking at me because they like my ass or my boobs…."

Vincent nods.

"Your ass…definitely."

Fiona whips her head around and glowers playfully at him.

"So you are in agreement that I have the chest of a 12 year old boy?" She folds her arms and taps her boot against the ground.

"NO!" He laughs hard. "I just meant you have a nice ass! That didn't mean you don't have nice breasts."

Fiona playfully smacks him.

" **You're** an ass!"

"Yes…yes I am!" He grins proudly. "And to answer your previous question, there was a time I loved when the girls looked at me. To a certain extent I guess you could say I still do, but…" He stops talking for a moment. Fiona studied his eyes as he gulped audibly; it was clear that he was losing composure.

"Look…" She places her hand on his shoulder giving it a gentle caress. "Your business is your business and I'm not going to pry…but sometimes it just helps to talk to somebody and get it out there." She pulls her knees into her chest and clasps her hands around them. "If you don't want to talk to me, I'm good with that…but I can see something is eating away at you and you should at least…"

Vincent heaves a heavy sigh before she could finish her sentence.

"My older brothers were killed when the towers fell." He blurts out then exhales heavily..

Fiona's face fell as she sat up slowly replacing her look of concern to absolute horror.

"Oh my God." She whispers looked into his face which now was covered in tears. "Wow…" her own eyes grew misty as she searched for words that did not come. "I'm so sorry….I don't know how to even begin to know what to say."

Vincent gave a soft chuckle and shook his head.

"There are no words. Believe me…I have searched for answers for over a year and all I have found is anger and pain looking back at me." He gave her a stoic half smile. "When I woke up that morning, I had my fiancé lying beside me; I was thinking how lucky I was to have such a wonderful woman in my life as I was heading to the hospital where I worked as a resident. "

He shook his head and looked up at the sky then turns to her.

"I had it all. I was happy. I started my morning working in the ER…the day was slow." He pauses momentarily taking a deep breath as Fio tenderly caresses his arm waiting for him to continue. "And then the first plane hit the tower…then the second. I knew my brother's unit would be called…" He paused and gulped audibly. "I lost my two best friends that day…I lost my job when I walked away…and I was so consumed with anger I lost many of my friends and my fiancé. And it all happened so damn fast…I had just talked to them the night before…"

Vincent could not talk anymore. He had broken down into anguished sobs placing his hands over his face as Fiona placed her arms around him gently rubbing his back.

"You don't have to say anything else…" Fio's own voice breaking as she spoke. "You're right. There are no words that can be said to take that away. I'm so sorry."

Vincent sat back up wiping his face as he struggled to regain his composure.

"Sorry."

Fio blinked and jerked back her head. "Sorry? Keller, you lost your brothers in the most horrible way possible! Why in the hell should you be sorry?"

"Because big boys aren't supposed to cry." He attempts a smile as he wipes his tears away.

Fiona cocks her head and blinks.

"Says who?" She shrugs. "I hear that all the time but who in the fuck made that rule? That was NOT part of the 10 Commandments, and it ain't in the bible, so who made up that shit?"

Vincent laughs through his tear.

"It's an unwritten guy rule!"

Fiona shakes her head and laugh while placing her hands over her face.

"It's a crock of shit is what it is. Where do you men go to learn this crap?"

"Probably the same place you girls learn that you all have to go to the bathroom together." He pulls her in using his knuckles to Indian Rub her head.

"Hey!" She shouts while struggling to break free. Taking a handful of sand she opens up the back of his pants and let the sand run through her fingers.

"Whoa! HEY!" He shouts and stands up. He quickly grabs the back of his belt and flaps the loose sand from one leg and then the other shaking the particles loose as Fiona stood close by breaking out in a fit of laughter.

"Shit!" she was ready to split a gut at the sight of Vincent . "Why in the hell didn't I bring my camera as my luxury item? You look like a retarded turkey!"

After he had finished freeing the sand from his drawers, he stood laughing for several moments; although he had impure of her upon their first meeting, Fiona was starting to feel like the sister he never had.

Taking the sleeve of his uniform, he wiped away the tears from his eyes once their laughter had dissipated.

"Hey, you're right…talking about this helped a lot. I'm feeling better than I have for a long time."

"I had a feeling you were one of those guys that gets moody for a damn good reason." She folds her arms and smiles. "I'm here anytime

He reached over and touched her face.

"Someday when I look back and think about the people in my life that were there for me… I will always remember that you were one of those people that had my back when I really needed someone to be there."

Fio half-smiles before embracing him again.

"I always got your back." She gave him a tender kiss on the cheek. "And I have a feeling we are going to be friends for a long time."

Vincent nods.

"I think so too." He grinned then bopped her nose playfully as Fiona giggles bopping his in return.

As they moved closer to their camp Memphis's guitar could be heard.

"Oh thank God that damned TV hootenanny is over…I was getting ready to hang myself." Fiona looks up at Vincent. "Should we head back? I can stomach Green Day so much more than the Lavern and Shirley theme song."

Vincent chuckles and held his hand out in a flourish.

"Lead the way." He grinned and placed his hand on the small of her back walking her back to the camp singing loudly as they sat down.

" _So take the photographs and still frames in your mind_

 _Hang it on a shelf in good health and good time_

 _Tattoos of memories and dead skin on trial_

 _For what it's worth, it was worth all the while_

 _It's something unpredictable but in the end is right_

 _I hope you had the time of your life"_

As Vincent and Fio bond together and with their team, they were not aware that the moment was observed by Captain Faulks. Only watching from an inaudible distance, the moment of closeness between the two friends was immediately misunderstood. As he watches them walk back toward their camp together, he closed his eyes and heaves a dejected sigh.

Alex knew he was in essence forbidden from entering into anything other than a professional relationship with Fio, but in working with her team in training, and running into her by chance on her evening runs,(there was no by chance about it…he would venture out in hopes of running into the girl) he had grown very attracted to her. There was something about her from the moment he first saw her that drew him. Fio was a pretty girl. Yes, this made him look, but he knew lots of pretty girls, both back home and in the army. And there were some lookers even within her own squad.

Alex would be the first to tell you that he was no saint. The officer's club was filled with beautiful women and he enjoyed the occasional one-night-stand to fill the physical need. Yet his emotional needs remained unfulfilled.

Fio was different. She was not like other girls he had encountered. She was fierce, determined with strong work ethics; a spirit that was very common growing up in a working class family in Hell's Kitchen, New York. With the exception of the time she unbuttoned her uniform top, to deter his focus on that first day of training, she did not use her looks to rest on her laurels; in fact, she was one of the best on the squad.

It was none of these reasons in particular for the growing intensity of his feelings; maybe it was her soft, feminine smile that made his heart skip every time he looked at her; or the way she laughed, or how her dark hair fell across her face in soft curls when it fell out of her military standard braid…

All he knew was that seeing her growing closeness to Vincent Keller made his heart sting like a bitch.

* * *

 _ **JT's Gentlemen's Club - Manhattan, NY**_

 _ **Present Day**_

"Well…" JT Forbes exhales as he put away his blood pressure cuff and stethoscope. "The good news is you are fine. The bad news is you have Liam Cullen juice floating around in your system."

Tess snickers with JT at the last remark before Vincent glares at the two.

"Grow up!" He snarls irritably.

"Oh my GOD!" Cat paces back and forth placing her hands over her face. She was exasperated with the unnecessary ribbing when her husband's health was in questions. "Can we all stop fucking around for 5 minutes?"

The three turn around to look at Cat. Vincent took the ribbing in a good enough nature. If Vincent was fine, JT would rib to lighten the mood. Tess picks up that trait from him, which made double-teaming Vincent a regular occurrence. However, Cat was usually more tolerable towards the bad jokes. Instead, Cat stares at the three like they committed sacrilege.

"Jesus! I spent half the night terrified that my husband was going to die right in front of me!" She turns and glowers at JT. "So if he isn't going to die, why was he hemorrhaging all over the carpet for which, by the way, we will not be getting our deposit back!"

"From all my tests, he didn't hemorrhage." JT spoke defensively. "But I got some crime lab grade solution that should get the blood out of the carpet."

JT was at a loss for words about Vincent. Each physical exam short of imaging him shows nothing. Either he heals at a rate that occurrence don't appear or the event didn't happen. The former contradicts because Cat description of the events shouldn't have occurred. A small amount of blood and then he should clot quickly.

"Sweetie, I'm fine." Vincent stands up and wraps his arms around Cat before softly kissing her forehead. "I'm so sorry I frightened you, but I was as scared as you were. I don't know why I am suddenly having these memories about Fiona and what this urgency is that I am feeling in regards to her."

Cat half smiles and reached up touching his face.

"I know and I'm sorry I'm being such a bitch." Her green eyes brimmed over with tears. "But when I saw you like that with blood coming out of your ears and nose, and watching you scream in agony…"

Vincent pulls her close because he knew she was going to say. Between a medical practice and other experience, he knew what he had looked like. He has seen too many people bleed out before having to tell someone that a significant other didn't make it. It was not one of those stories he ever wants Cat to hear..

"Shhhhh." He closes his eyes and held her close to him, stroking her beautiful dark hair soothingly. "I'm so sorry."

She pulls her face away enough to look into his eyes.

"It's ok. The important thing is you are ok and that's all that matters to me." She stands on her toes to softly kiss him. "You're my whole world. If anything ever happens to you, I would be so lost."

Before Vincent could speak again, Tess clears her throat.

"Ok, as nauseatingly touching as this all is, I can't be the only one that is wondering who in the hell this Fiona is…" She glares at Vincent then looks at Cat. "…and why your spouse is crying out in his sleep over her?"

"Tess!" Cat whips around glaring daggers at her.

"Tess!" Vincent grumbles. "I know what you're thinking and it's nothing like that. We were friends; nothing more, nothing less."

"Just friends, eh?" JT raised his brow.

"Oh for fuck's sake!" Vincent groanes. "She is a very beautiful woman and yes, at one point I wanted to badly get into her pants! However, she didn't join the army to meet guys and wanted to serve her country like the rest of us. She made that point very clear on the first day we met." He pauses for a moment then smiles giving a short laugh. "But that didn't stop her from falling in love with a captain."

"Isn't that taboo?" JT asked questionably.

"Yeah, it's taboo." Vincent nods. "Sometimes, these things are let go if it doesn't outright affect their actions in the field. However, she never confirmed or denied the relationship. But I do know they spent a lot of time together and every time they were near each other they made googly eyes at each other. Her roommate said she would sneak off at night and be gone for hours." He shrugged. "Fiona was incredibly hyperactive and could never fall asleep right away. I ran into her a few times taking a walk around the base. She was a Jr. Parkour champion and she didn't want to lose her competitive edge, so she would go out and practice her moves. She could have been doing that, or sneaking off with Alex."

"And forbidden sex is always the most fun." Tess smirked then cleares her throat when JT folded his arms and glared at her. "Or…so I've heard."

Cat covered her mouth to stifle a giggle at JT's reaction then grew serious again. "Last night you were crying out ' _Fiona No_ ' and you sounded terrified; like something horrible happened to her." She sat down next to him taking his hand. "What do you remember?"

Vincent sat for a moment shifting his eyes upward with a blank expression as though he was focusing with his entire efficacy before shaking his head sighing aggravated.

"I don't know. There are still a lot of blanks and questions I do not have answers to." He stood up agitatedly and slammed his fists on the bar breaking the entire end. " _WHY IN THE FUCK CAN'T I REMEMBER ANYTHING ABOUT HER?_ " He sat on one of the bar stools nearly sobbing. "Why do I have this feeling of urgency?"

JT was stunned that Vincent had broken 1/3 of his bar, but this would not be the time to ask him to pay for the repairs.

"Whatever it is must be buried deep in your subconscious. Between Muirfield's mindfuckery and what Bob Reynolds did to you…." He stopped suddenly and looked at Cat. "Cat, I am so sorry. That was not cool."

Cat shook her head slowly; she too was stunned by Vincent's outburst, and barely heard JT's apology.

"All good." She answered weakly. "He may have redeemed himself, but it doesn't erase what happened. " She quickly walked over and stood next to Vincent rubbing his shoulder. "Was she there with your squad the day you received your injections? Did she become a beast?"

Vincent tried to listen, but their words sounded like there were coming to him from a distance. The Image of Fiona turning to smile before walking away and vanishing from his sight replayed over and over. He could almost hear her voice imploring him to look at these images in his mind and learn from what they are telling him. Why could he not remember…where was Fiona and why could he remember so many details about her but nothing about the last time he saw her, or the morning they were injected.

As he heard the voices of Cat, Tess and JT trying to break through, as though they were all lost in a storm. His body began to shake violently. He had to get out of there. He needed to get far away from them.

"STOP!" He shouted startling them all. "Just STOP."

He looked at each of their faces and shook his head.

"I'm sorry." He whispered. "I am so very sorry, but if I don't get out of here I am going to have a repeat of last night. I don't want to feuge and I don't want to hemorrhage again."

He lunged for the door stopping to look at Cat before doing so.

"Please forgive me. I love you so much." He implored her before sprinting out the door.

"Vincent!" JT shouted and started to take off after him, but Cat gently grabbed his arm.

"Let him go." She told him gently. "He has to process this his own way and he does not want to take it out on any of us."

"Ok." JT nodded and sighed. "I have never seen him like this."

His concern for his best friend was unmistakable.

"I have known him my entire life. I honestly don't know what to do here." He looked at Cat as Tess walked up behind him wrapping her arms around his waist.

"What about hypnotizing him?"

Both Cat and JT turned and looked at her oddly making her roll her eyes.

"I don't mean like having him act like a chicken or something stupid, but having somebody actually dig down deep into his memories to fish out what he has buried deep."

JT nodded quickly snapping his fingers.

"Baby, that is a great idea." He sat in front of his computer and began typing out an email. "I have a buddy on campus who also happens to be head of the psyche department. I can ask him to come over and try a few techniques to get those images clearer without his body breaking."

JT sends a message on his phone before looking at the group.

"Ok…so now we wait." He shrugged. "So what should we do while we wait on him to get back to me…and for Vincent to work shit out?"

"Drink." Tess walked to the bar and grabbed a beer for each one of them.

"Oh God yes!" Cat reached for a beer. "Drink a lot."

She opened her beer then popped open JT's before handing it to him.

"Cheers." JT offered as he took the beer from her.

"Cheers." Cat and Tess reciprocated the gesture.

* * *

 _ **The Hospital**_

 _ **Present Day**_

After leaving JT's place, Vincent rushes to the hospital to check on Jacob and run some tests to attempt to gain insight on his sister. Upon entering the double glass doors, he notes that lobby was atypically quiet. Normally, gang fights and bar brawls would fill the place up on this friday night, but it didn't concern him as he makes his way to the seventh floor.

He walks carefully towards the Intensive Care Unit, which had family members in anguish. The two nurses stare hopelessly at the family member before turning to their pictures of their children to make it through the night.

"Hi Dr. Keller." One of the nurses calls out to him smiling widely. "What are you doing here on a Saturday?"

"Isn't today your day off?" The other nurse chimes flirtatiously as she raised an eyebrow.

Vincent stops and saunters towards the nurse station. He was hoping to avoid contact, but it didn't stop him from flashing the infamous grin at the women. In normal situations, his extraordinarly handsomeness and smile could charm Satan into buying oceanfront property in Iowa, it would take special coaxing to get blood tests that out of protocol from nurses who work the ICU. At least, it would take coaxing so they would not ask questions.

"Hi Jessica." He nods to the first one then glances at the second. "And Angie….how are you ladies today?"

"Well we are just fine doctor." Angie smiles and leans forward.. "Now how were you able to get out of the house today? Doesn't your wife keep you locked up and away from other ladies stealing you away."

Vincent chuckles and lightly blushes.

"Catherine is the love of my life and I am hers. I have no desire to even look at another woman." He presses his lips together and the half-smile strongly indicates that this conversation was over. "Now could I trouble you lovely ladies into some blood tests for the patient in room 713?" He reaches behind the counter grabbing a form then clicks his pen. "Patient's last name is Conner, first name Jacob. And when the tests are completed, bring the results to me?"

"Of course Dr. Keller." Jessica purrs. "Do you want a rush on this?"

"Yes." Vincent nods. "I would like that as quickly as humanly possible?"

"Ok Doctor Keller." Jessica wrote something on the form and headed down the hall. "I'll get that to the lab right away."

"Thank you!" He hollers after and turns to her then turns to Angie. "And I hope your day goes well. Thank you for your help."

He turns to leave while the nurses stare at him

"Anytime, Dr. Keller." She calls out after him then places her chin against her palms smiling dreamily. "My God, he's beautiful." She sighs absent-mindedly as she watched him head down the hall.

As he walks away from the nurse's station, he felt very bad for the flirtation. While it was not normal for Vincent to use his charm for a personal favor, he justifies it with his need to discover what happened to his friend.

Questions exasperate Vincent's mind, since he could recall mere moments with Fiona. The first day of training, hell week, and the war. He could even recall her drinking him under the table, but he couldn't recall when he saw her last. He was even beginning to wonder if his time in Afghanistan were real because of all the fuzzy details and mind games.

He stops by Jacob Conner's room and observes him. He remains in a coma with life support. There was no next of kin or a DNR on his file, which ties Vincent's hands. The hospital tried to search, but all the known relatives were gone. His parents, Jacob Argus and Grace Elizabeth died in a car accident a few years ago. While the police did note it was suspicious, it did not help the next of kin situation. Each next of kin were systematically showing up decease, which made him think that Project Muirfield went after the family member it could find to cut off resources.

Fiona's status did cause him some anguish. When Muirfield systematically killed off all of its participants, the dead were categorized as KIA. Even when Vincent escaped, the company assumed he was dead. He couldn't wrap his head around what MIA meant. This thought caused enough anguish for him pick up a replacement saline bag and throw it against the wall with enough force to burst it.

He barely misses a young girl walking. Full goth makeup and clothing with a black mini-skirt. She avoids the bag, but lets out a scream.

"Hey! Easy doc!" The girl shouts in a characteristic Brooklyn accent. "Look at what you did? You got my sneakers wet! A whole month's pay! A MONTH!" She held up the bag and shakes it at him. "Oh sure, it's nothing for a rich doctor like you."

"I'm sorry!" He cuts her off partially because he generally was sorry. However, her loudness did annoy him. She was a blonde Brooklynite version of his sister-in-law Heather. He did love his sister in law, but often thought about prescribing her some tranquilizers with how much her chatterbox syndrome goes on. "What it is, I will pay for it, miss."

"Yea, you better!" She nods quickly before pointing to Jake. "What'cha gonna do for him? You're gonna fix him, right doc? He can't die, he just can't.."

As the girl begins to wail, he took note of her appearance. She was wearing a mild goth attire offset by black lipstick and nail polish. Her hair was pale blond and cut in a curly a-frame, which lays against even paler skin. She looks like a fangirl for a certain CW show that he and Tess got obsessed about. Cat didn't like watching it because of the different cuisines made from brains, which made her think too much about Silence of the Lambs.

Once she had finally finished her tirade, Vincent exhales loudly with his growing irritation.

"Are you family, miss? If not, I have to ask you to leave the area and wait in the lobby."

The young girl looks at him with fiery eyes.

"That's my Boo in there! You got my Boo and I ain't leaving this place until you save his life! Stop standing around with your thumb up your ass and do it!"

Vincent maintains his smile despite fact he was seething inside. This girl was being insubordinate and insolent.

"I'm sorry, young lady, but you aren't allowed in this area unless you're a family member. You can wait in the lobby or waiting area, but you cannot.."

"I am not going anywhere!" She screams loud enough for heads to turn in his direction. "I'm going to stay right here and you can't make me leave!"

She folds her arms and stomps her foot for emphasis.

He was officially angry, which is normally a problem for beasting out. However, he knew enough to keep a separation between human angry and beast furious. It was a good thing considering where they currently were.

"Ok, I've been kind enough to ask you to leave the area, but now I have no choice but to call security. They'll remove you one way or another." Vince looks back and sees three security guards approaching the scene. "Now are you going to be a good girl and take a seat in the lobby? If not, these gentlemen will escort you out."

The girl sighs and crosses her arms while tapping her foot. She rolls her eyes and blew a bubble, which she lets pop all over her face.

"Whatever."

Vincent turns towards the guards that walk towards the ICU upon hearing the commotion.

"Excuse me, gentlemen." He have a courteous smile towards them before turning to the girl behind him. His smile distorts as he turns and he hisses towards the girl. "You don't have a lot of options. This is an restricted unit with families dealing the possibility of losing a loved one." He points towards families sitting in another ICU unit. "What they don't need is a snarky girl undermining hospital authority and causing trouble. Therefore, I am going to politely ask you to walk away and go sit in the waiting area."

He wants to say a lot more, but he had to think of the families as well. If he flew off the handle at her, it would only aggravate their situation, which would break his heart. It would also make it to his supervisor, which he did not want to hear from at the moment.

The girl smirks insolently like she was hiding a deep dark secret as she stares at Vincent for what felt like an eternity. After snapping her bubble gum yet again, she turns on her heel before giving the bird towards Vincent and the security team as she exits.

"Fuuuuuuuuuk!" The three guards drop out of formation laughing at the girl's unruly behavior. "What the hell did you do to piss that one off, Keller?" One of the guards calls out incredulously as the 2 barrels over.

"That was one crazy ass BITCH!" Another guard bellows. "Daaaayyyyym! You know how to treat those ladies, Keller!" He chortled.

"Guys, this is the ICU." he reminds the men of the reason why she couldn't be in here. The security officer straighten up and quietly apologized. Vincent was still incensed by the encounter, but he didn't mean to take it out on the guys. "It's ok, just keep those crazy idiots out of here." He spoke before heading out and gave the first guard a slap on the shoulder.

"Presumed dead!" His mind reels. "Did anybody even try to find you?"

The MIA status struck him again. What did it mean? Was she transferred out before the injections were given? He remembers the day with exact detail, but he doesn't recall seeing Fiona. The strange fact was that he didn't recall him wondering why she wasn't there. It bothered him now because she was their squad leader and mother hen.

As Vincent enters his office, he shut the door behind him and flops against the door placing his hand over his forehead. He losing control over how difficult the answers were becoming. He need to focus or everyone is at risk.

"You may never learn the truth." He heard his wife's voice speaking to him which startles him. "How are you prepared to deal with that if you never find out?"

Vincent looks in the direction of her voice where she was sitting at his desk.

"Sweetie?" He smiles very happy to see her. If there was ever a time he needed her, with all of the uncertainty and opening of wounds he thought had long healed, it was now. Pulling her out of his chair, he wraps his arms around her and held onto her tight.

Cat smiles and returns his embrace.

"Well is that your stethoscope in your pocket, or are you just glad to see me?"

Vincent smiles down at her and bopped her nose. He loves the way it crinkled when she smiled. She may have been one of New York's finest badass female cops, but that was easy to forget with that little girl smile and dimples.

"Which answer will help me score with the pretty girl?" He grins evilly wiggling his eyebrows. "And I am sorry for the cliché…but you are most definitely a sight for sore eyes."

This time Cat did not smile.

"Well if you ever run off like that again you will have two very sore eyes." She glowers hard into him. "It was all great at first, we were going to spend the day getting drunk, but then JT and Tess started getting all lovey dovey making me feel like a third wheel. If I went home I would have been crazy worried…" She slaps her hips with her palms then threw them outward in a flourish. "…so I came to the one place I knew you would be."

Vincent sighs and run his fingers through his dark brown hair half-smiling at her.

"I'm sorry. " He caresses his hands against her shoulders then quickly removes them dropping at his sides exasperated. "I hate this feeling! It's like I'm on vacation and left the iron on or the shower running…" He stops and walks toward his desk before turning towards her. "I remember so much about her…but there are so many holes…"

Cat exhales.

"Vincent, know this is frustrating. I can't even imagine what you must have gone through. Knowing what Muirfield did to you, it frightens me to think of what that poor girl may have suffered if they got ahold of her." She leans against his desk with her arms folded across her chest. "But like I said when you walked through that door…we may never know what happened to her…and if you don't…"

Before she was finished, Vincent cut her off.

"We WILL find out the truth!" He stated gravely. "Catherine…there is a reason her brother was brought to my hospital and there is a reason I am having these memories. I have to learn the truth and I will find out no matter what it takes!"

Cat smiles this time.

"I was hoping you would say that and just hear me out on this because I know what you are going to say." She stares at him looking for a reaction before moving on. He gave her a nod approving her to continue.

"Ok…" She spoke cautiously. "JT feels that your memories…or lack of are probably related to a tragic event. I know Muirfield erased a lot of your memories and some you have blocked out on your own. He recommends that we contact a one of his colleagues who can use hypnosis to...dive into your subconscious or something like that. He hopes it will uncover some of the blocked memories safely without nose bleeds and other hemorrhages." She stops talking and looks at him. "Ok…I am done. You can talk now."

Vincent listens intently and nods once she told him was finished.

"Are you sure?"

Cat nods.

He smiled then scoffs.

"No. No fucking way! I have had too many people mess with my head and I am not going to allow another person in there. So JT can tell his colleague thanks…but not happening. Not now….not ever!"

"I was afraid you were going to say that." He heard JT's voice just before he heard the sharp sound of his tranq gun being fired hitting him in his right hip.

"I hate you so much right now." He snarls weakly as he fell to the floor.

Cat turns to JT staring at him as if he were out of his mind.

"Why in the hell did you tranq him? This was supposed to be his choice JT! We can't force him into this! And now he is going to think I had something to do with this! What is wrong with you?"

JT exhales, vexed by Cat's reaction.

"Ok, so would you rather have him spend the rest of his potentially short life like this? All the symptoms you had mentioned point towards a systematic block by someone, which can spooks can use to cause significant damage rather than let secrets get out. If you can't completely wipe the memories due to lack of equipment or time, drugs and subliminal messages can do that. Ok, call me paranoid and tinfoil hat, but with what you have seen Muirfield do, it is not far off. He would never quit and eventually his body would give out, which I don't want to see." He shrugs. "I know what your answer is going to be…and since we are in full agreement, I took the proactive approach."

He picks up his phone and dials as Cat watched him dubiously.

"JT!" She shouts which he just held up his hand shushing her while he was on the phone to which she scoffs irritably and paces back and forth waiting for him to finish. She barely let her husband get away with that, so what was JT thinking.

"Heather!" His ecstatic voice bellowes over the phone. "Yeah, I'm ready when you guys are…we're at the hospital…"

"What the HELL!" Cat shouts incredulously. "You got my sister involved with this?"

JT glares at her giving her the universal hand gesture telling her to shut up the pointed to the phone again incensing her further. Best friend or not, there will be a reckoning. She is so telling Tess.

"No…no…she's fine Heather…just get here whenever you can."

He snaps his phone shut then looks back at Cat.

"Ok, Cat! I'm sorry. And no, I did not get your sister involved, but she is dating Hoss…"

Cat narrows her eyes wrinkling her nose repugnantly.

"Who in the hell is Hoss?"

JT rolls his eyes.

"Her new boyfriend. His name is Jax….Vincent and I call him Hoss because he reminds us of Hoss on Bonanza…" He looks at Cat who looked like she was ready to book him for idiocy. "Ok…never mind…so JAX is going to come over here and help us carry Vincent back to my place. My buddy Stewart is going to meet us there in about an hour. I only told Heather that Vincent needs a ride and Hoss…ah…is big enough to carry Vincent. After all these years, you know Vincent is heavier than he looks."

"You know he is going to be pissed when he wakes up." She cocks her head as a warning to remind him that Vincent does not always wake up calm. "And this is all on you. I had no part in ANY of this and I know for a fact that Tess would not approve of this either. Are you ready for that?"

"Noted." JT replies and looks up at her. "And I know he is going to be pissed…but I would rather have him pissed at me than have him dead.."

Cat softens a little and smiles at him. Yes, she could get furious with JT and his crazy ideas, but she also knew how much he loved Vincent and would do anything for his friend.

"JT, I'm sorry." She pauses a moment. "I know that you are only thinking the best for Vincent…and you are right…he would dig his heel into the ground and refuse to do this." She held up her finger and furrowed her brow. "Now I still don't condone this…but I can issue a years' worth of parking tickets to you if this goes badly…just so we're clear?"

"Crystal." JT nods.

At that moment, someone knocked on the door.

"Ok, that's going to be JAX…let's get this big lug out of here." He approaches Vincent and grabbed him under the shoulders crying out in pain. "No more gummy worms for you, big guy."

* * *

 _ **Uzbekistan Desert**_

 _ **September 21, 2002**_

Survivor Training Day 3.

Despite having sand and dirt fill every body cavity possible, the team manages to sleep on a soft pile of leaves through the cavern. It wasn't as cozy as soft cushion at home, but it was enough to not be too horrible.

Vincent lays by himself towards the outside of the rock formation with Lafferty about three feet to his right and Conner just past his feet. The three of them did manage to spend a portion of the night telling dirty jokes and stories before the two ladies fell asleep.

Vincent couldn't sleep with two beautiful and available women laying in close proximity. Despite his medical training, he had no cure for his hormones going into overdrive. He hasn't been with a woman in a long time since he left Zach's ex-girlfriend Gabriella. In his defense, she did not mention she was in a relationship, which made Vincent chose not to feel guilty over it. Sure, he knew it stings Zach, but he was not psychic and can't predict who is cheating.

However, he is a man of honor. He knew that Fiona and Alex have an interest in each other, which Vincent decided to forsake any physical interest. He didn't mind because she started to become like a sister to him, which is actually an awesome situation out here when things can go to hell. With her bawdy sense of humor and ability to drink them all under the table, most of the squad felt she was one of the guys. They did silently admit she has a rock hard ass and pleasant curves that could drive a red-blooded male to the brink. However, they did also respect her because she was there to fight rather than find a husband. While Captain Fawkes did admire that, it was clear that the fighting going between them is the admission of how they felt towards each other.

Mari Lafferty presents a different case. The African-American beauty has a stunning smile and the curve ration like Fio. The difference was that she didn't mind if boys look at her. She did display an interest in Vincent, but they both didn't put a stock into marrying in the future. They both knew that war was hell and things can change in a short period of time, but it would be ideal to enter a physical relationship understanding terms.

He decides to wake Mari up in order to someplace private, but he heard strange footsteps in the camp. After being with the group for a couple of days, he could distinguish everyone's pattern, which neither of the sounds he heard matched.

"Fio." he whispers as he nudges Fio awake.

Fiona opens her eyes and begins to speak, but Vincent places his finger over his lips to signal her otherwise. Her focus turns towards the footsteps outside of the cave, which was unexpected. She and Vincent try to wake the others before a squad of men with assault rifles move in and begin shouting in Pashto, which the group had a vague understanding of from their time amongst the locals. The squad look at each other before looking at the terrorist, which held them at a disadvantage. Vincent kneels down and places his hand around his head. The others follow his example and do the same.

The terrorist drag the squad outside the shelter and threw them at the feet of a man in a black cloak and shawl that covers the face. From the stance and position, Vincent assumes this was the leader of this group. However, the steel blue eyes and the lack of olive skin made him think of something other than the local Afghans, which he also observes strands of greyish flyaway hair flowing from under the headgear. The other difference was the man stood in an at ease stance. While the United States don't own patents on military stances, this formality is a little distant from what he thought of with terrorists.

"On your knees! Now!" Was heard from behind from one of the men who kicks Willie in the small of the back. Willie falls to the ground with tears in his eyes as he face met the sand.

"Leave him alone, you piece of shit!" Fiona screams at the man.

"Fio, stop!" Vincent shouts at her with the knowledge that her vocalness and these men tolerance of it did not equate. They would sooner shoot or behead her for being insubordinate than listen to her. A man walks up to her and backhands Fio, who spits blood out as she crumbles to the ground.

"Fuck you!" She retaliates. The man aims the rifle at her head. Vincent is to horrified to utter a sentence at what he was seeing. The man looks ready to shoot Fio, who was trembling and whimpering in pure terror.

Before the man holding rifle could pull the trigger, the leader shouts in Pashto. The tone of the voice and the dropping of the rifle makes it sound a threat was given. The man lets go of Fio immediately and falls into line.

By now, all of them were crying in fear that this could be the last minutes of their lives. They wonder how this all occurred because hostiles were not suppose to be here. The only people who knew their location were command and Project Muirfield, which makes them question why this group was here.

Vincent looks up as the man in the black cloak paces before stopping to briefly examine them. His attention focuses on Mari before turning to Fio and Rodriguez. Finally, he steps in front of Vincent, who took a majority of the attention. The uncomfortable silence made Vincent nervous before the man grabs him by the collar.

"This one." The leader spoke before tossing Vincent to the other men.

"No!" Mari stood up screaming. "Let him go, Please!"

She sobs as she pleas for Vincent's release.

"Silence!" The leader shouts and hold his hand before any of the men could react. Instead, he pushes her down and her face hits the sand.

The squad could only watch helplessly as the terrorist load Vincent into the truck. Before he disappears, he looks at Fio with pleading eyes. As though he wants her to find him. Fio saw the looks and gave him a nod through her tears, which was an unspoken pact that she would find him no matter the cost.

After the truck disappears over the horizon, the leader looks at the remaining squad. He turns towards the terrorists and waves his hand.

"Kill them all!"


	4. Chapter 4

_**Uzbekistan Desert**_

 _ **September 21, 2002**_

Fiona Grace Conner was born October 26, 1980 in the Hell's Kitchen section of Manhattan, New York to hard-working first generation Irish American parents. At age 21 she had accomplished more than most girls at her age had hoped to accomplish in a lifetime. She had won numerous trophies participating in parkour championships for team and individual participation. She played varsity basketball before graduating with Advance Placement courses at the age of sixteen. She did enroll in college with an accelerated bachelor's degree at NYU in Criminal Justice, which she hope to parlay into the CIA or FBI. However, she opted to join the army pre-9/11 in hopes to building her tactical and leadership advantage. She performed so well that she went through officer candidacy school and used her college education to get out of the enlisted ranks.

She wanted a career. She did want to marry someday and hopefully a few kids. She wanted to return home to see her grandmother and brother. It was a dream she built for herself.

However, she was on her knees and bent over with her face in the dirt. The terrorist have them in a prime execution style position. A barrel presses against the back of her skull as she hears the truck the group loaded Vincent into fade off into the distance. She could hear it as well as the distinct rattle. The rattle sounds east, which is in the direction of Tashkent. A likely haven for these terrorist.

Fiona could feel Mari's trembling hand reaching for her. As the two grasps hands, Fio turned her head in her direction and smiled weakly at Mari's tear and dirt stained face peeking up from the ground. They squeeze each other's hands tightly. Then she reaches over to grab onto Willie's hand on her other side.

Behind them, the terrorists were loading their weapons. Fio grew up in a Catholic neighborhood and went to church every Sunday with her family. As she grew older she began to wonder if what the church had taught from the bible was the truth. The realist in her made her skeptical of the stories from the bible and what happens in the afterlife; but as she heard the soldiers get into position, she began to pray hoping all she was taught was real.

"Our Father...which art in Heaven.." she began to whisper under her breath.

"Hallowed, be thy name…"

One by one they all joined in.

"Thy kingdom come, thy will be done, on earth, as it is in Heaven. And give us this day, our daily bread. And forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who have trespassed against us. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. That tine is thy kingdom…and the power and the glory…forever. Amen

"Do you have any final words for this world?" The man in the black cloak asked them.

"I hope you choke on a camel's dick!" Mari's face twists into a caustic sneer; every syllable dripped with venom.

Willie raises up from his place on the ground until he was standing toe to toe with the leader. He spoke words that Fio will never forget.

"Today may be my dying day – but that's ok. My soul clean" Willie's stare was stoic and his words were soft. "My grandma raised me to do right by my fellow man and maybe I am no saint, but I sure as hell am no terrorist. And you may think that your askewed views of life after death is going to bring you a mansion of gold and your virgins, but it ain't going to happen like that. So if today I must die, I probably won't have a mansion, but whatever awaits me on the other side is going to be far better than what you got coming."

He glowers at the man before resuming the position.

The leader just smirks.

"Touching, but I am not a religious man. I am certain where I am going mansions of gold do not await me." His mordant laughter could provide shivers to even the most stoical of the human race. He approaches Rodriguez, who is crying in such a manner. "That may work for your mama, but I see you as a waste of oxygen."

Fiona has many things she want to say that could match the nastiness her friends spew. However, she was still alive and there was always hope. She had to be a leader and think of her little tribe.

"Where did you take Vincent Keller?"

The leader gives a condescending laugh before kneeling down and caustically whispers into her ear.

"Your friend is going to be a TV star!" the corrosive tone made the tough girl cringe. The vile laughter echo down into her soul. "He will be executed for the whole world to see. Don't fret as he will join you in hell very soon."

"However…" he laughs at her and touches her hair and neck. He slides it down her spine and grabs her ass. She is doing all she can to maintain her composure, but there were limits.

"If you want to prolong your life, you can always be my slave at my base. I like my women passionate and feisty." He licked her neck and the side of her face.

And the camel back did snap like a twig. She lifted her body enough to spit in his face. He grew angry and backhands her to the ground. He kicks her ribs for good measure before turning towards the men. He yelled something in Pashto. Fio only knew enough of the land to know what dialects were spoken. She knew a few words, but she didn't have enough of an understanding to get what the man yelled. However, the anger did make it sound like an execution order.

Each of them close their eyes and held each others hand. Bracing each other for the worse to come.

The shots rang out.

Fio winces, but it was not the fear of dying. It was the unknown where death would take her. She heard another round of rifle blast go across her ear, which cause an intense ringing. However, there was a distinct sound of wild animals before darkness consumes her.

 **Vincent and Catherine's Apartment  
** **New York City SoHo District  
** **Present Day**

"Mother FUCKER!" Vincent groans loudly as he comes to opening his eyes. He rubs his leg that got the tranquiler dart then his eyes bore daggers into JT. "What in the hell is wrong with you?"

JT laughs and smirks.

"More than I care to elaborate on." He shrugs knowing Vincent is pissed at him. He also knew that Vincent would get over it. Perhaps his methods were not always well thought out and maybe it was not the right thing to do. In fact, he knew for sure that knocking Vincent out was not the best choice. He is just desperate to help his friend find answer and peace.

Vincent shifts his eyes to Cat who was leaning against the sofa and folding her arms. "Are you in on this?"

Cat held up her hands defensively while shaking her head briskly.

"Oooooh No! I had nothing to do with this! Did I JT?"

JT shook his head and sighs.

"No. This was all my idea!" He glared at Vincent. "Look, you are missing fragments of Afghanistan and a lot of trouble went into making sure it stays that way. For it to cause your body and mind to act like this, some serious shit must've happened. The only way to get to the bottom of this is to dig deeper into your subconscious and drag the memories out."

As if on cue, there was a knock on the door, which JT goes to answer. Vincent sighs and squirms in the chair.

"I really don't want to do this."

Cat joins him by his side and strokes his hair.

"Honey, I really think you should give this a shot." She places her finger on his lips when he looked like he was about to protest. She was getting to the point where she wasn't going to defend herself for looking out for her husband's best interest. She might not tranquilize him like some people, but she will put her foot down. "I know what you are going to say and I ask you to keep an open mind. This obsession is turning you into…" she stops right before she was going to call her husband a pain in the ass. "It's making you crazy.."

Vincent scoffs and shakes his head. Cat cut herself too quick and he caught it. He had a feeling she was going to say something potentially derogatory about him, which she was raised somewhat better than that.

"That is your polite way of saying I am driving people crazy?"

"Yeah." Cat smiles apologetically, which crinkles her nose in a cute way. It would take a serious amount of anger for him to stay mad at her when she does that. If there wasn't possible company, he would carry her into a bedroom and snuggles her up. Instead, he places his arms around her and pulls her close to him. "There is no question to how much I love you, but when you obsess…"

"I become a colossal asshat." he smirks as he completes what she really want to say. He bops her cute little nose. Cat closes her eyes in playful exasperation. Why did he have to be so cute and charming?

"I wouldn't go that far, but you do go a little overboard. It's not your fault, but it does drive people crazy."

Vincent leans back and purses his lips thoughtfully. He should know better than to question his wife's insight. Whether it was destiny or a weird coincidence, Cat seems to know him better than other people with very few exceptions. JT has been his friend for ages and he only does things when he knows Vincent will do things quite the opposite of healthy. Tess knows when Vincent is bullshitting her. He wonders who else is still out there that has that level of intimate knowledge of Vincent's brain.

"I'll work on that." he spoke sincerely and cuddles up with Cat.

There moment was interrupted when JT and a man they never seen before enter the room. Vincent can only assume this guy was the colleague from the university because JT is always lecturing people the purpose to hideout. However, the two guys were joking and talking about sports.

"Well, I predict the Mets are going to sweep the National Pennant. They'll lose the first two games to the Yankees in the series, but they will come from behind to win it all with a four game sweep. It's written in stone and there is nothing you can do about it!"

Cat winces trying not to interject. She is a New Yorker at heart, but the Mets?

"Keep dreaming!" his friends chuckles as he shakes his head. His voice drew attention to him. He is a slender man with healthy stock of black hair. He wore business casual clothing, which made Vincent unsure of what to expect. "The Yankees are taking it all the way and I'll bet you on my mother's grave."

"Your mother is alive and well in Queens, asshole!" JT ribs the man back.

"And when she leave us, I will place my values on her sacred resting place."

Cat clears her throat that causes both look at the couple. While Cat does look cute when she crinkles her nose, her 'Well?!' expression and body language sent the opposite signal. The 'Stay on task, asshole' expression was still cute, but never a good idea to take lightly.

"Hello…" she waves. "Remember us? We're kinda hard to miss in the room."

Tess was so rubbing off on her.

JT sighs and turns towards them.

"Sorry. We got so caught up in baseball stats that I forgot my manners." he places his hand on the doctor's shoulder. "Justin, these are my best friends on the planet. Vincent Keller and Catherine Chandler."

"Catherine _Keller_." Vincent corrects his friend before standing up and extending his hand. "Pleasure to meet you."

Justin gives Vincent a firm handshake. While Vincent was unsure of a few things, a firm handshake bode well for this newcomer.

"Likewise." he looks back and forth between the couple. "You two make a handsome couple. Have you been married long?"

Cat beams happily at the thought as a well as a disguise to her thoughts on the word handsome. There was a mixture of things that implied with handsome couple, but she decides to leave it to the man trying to be polite and professional. Handsome is a lot more professional than cute and sexy.

"Two wonderful months." she looks up at Vincent who smiles right back at her. He gently guides her to her feet and holds her close. "I'm a lucky woman."

"Don't let her fool you, I'm the lucky one!" Vincent smiles and turns towards Cat with a warm smile.

Justin nods and grins at them.

"Well, you both sound very happy and congratulations on your recent nuptials." he opens his messenger bag and pulls out a file. "JT did fill me in some of what you're going through, Vincent. Why don't we all take a seat."

Justin walks towards a chair as the group follows.

"So, should I lay on the couch?" Vincent scoffs and shrugs.

Justin gives a soft chuckle and leans forward.

"If you feel more comfortable that way, then by all means please do." he presses his lips together and maintains a stoic grin. "And I know this is very uncomfortable for you. Before we begin, I want to ensure that you are doing this of your own free will and your belief system with hypnotherapy. Do you believe this is a bunch of bullshit like 85% of the population?"

Vincent stood there in shock with the question, but shrugs.

"In all honesty, I am unsure about it all. After Afghanistan and a few things after it, the thought of people messing with my head left a bad taste in my mouth." he spoke as he glares at JT. He didn't say anything about how JT had tranq'd him and drag him to the apartment. "But I promised my wife and friend to keep an open mind." he presses his lips together to provide an uneasy smile. "So why don't you tell me how this works?"

Justin nods and puts on his reading glasses.

"Well, my first promise is the stuff you seen in TV and movies are complete hollywood bullshit. There is no trigger word that going to make you gobble. Also, this is not brainwashing, which is an unethical treatment that violates my own code of ethics. Instead, I am putting your mind and body into a relaxed state with a few exercises, which opens the subconscious more." he said tapping his lips. "Sometimes something occurs that the mind represses or someone forces it to repress, which makes it difficult for you to access it in your long-term memory. However, the subconscious mind has access to it, which is what is happening to you. Something triggers a memory, but you cannot recall what it was. We are simply going to tap into the subconscious to reconnect with the memory."

Justin takes a breath to analyze what Vincent thought of what he said thus far. So far, Vincent was just listening, which is a good thing. Skeptics think hypnotherapist will make them do something humiliating, or seduce them into sleep to violate them one way or another.

"You won't reveal anything you don't want to. You still are in control. The only thing that will happen is your body will feel like it is asleep, but all personal and professional boundaries will be upheld. Do you have any questions on the process?"

Cat caresses Vincent shoulders as he ponders what the doctor said.

"That sounds far less invasive than I thought it would be. Is this something that can be done in a single session, or will we have multiple sessions?"

"That depends on you. Not only on our progress, but how you feel about progressing. If you feel uncomfortable after this session, we do not have to continue." he takes a deep breath. "From what I understand, those memories are buried deep and that you may block much of it. It might be too painful to remember parts of it, but I am confident that we will hit key events that is affecting you deeply. Do you have any other questions or thoughts on the process?"

Vincent cups his hand over his mouth and remains silent as he holds Cat's hand. He sighs before going to speak.

"If any of these memories freak me out?"

"We will take you out of your relaxed state if you indicate or we feel you are in danger." Justin assures him. Despite people's opinions on hypnotherapy, his first duty is the well-being of the patient.

"Baby, what do you want to do." Cat asks gently. "You don't have to go through with this if you don't want to, ok?" she states before glaring at JT. She was so telling Tess because she knew her friend could give JT more hell than Cat could muster. "If you decide to go through with this, I'll be here with you and I'll not leave your side."

"Yeah, I'll be here too." JT smiles in an attempt to show support. "Ah..not that any fucks are given."

"I'm still not talking to you." Vincent grumbles playfully. JT was by all intents and purposes his brother. He knew that he only had best intentions even though they were sometimes not the right thing at the time. To this, Vincent just smiles. "I'm glad you're here, buddy. Thank you." He turns towards Justin before taking a deep breath. "Let's do this."

Justin seems a little concerned by the exchange, but sighs as everything seemed ok. He pulls out a notepad.

"Ok." he looks between the three of them. "So, Vincent, I want you to get comfortable. Start taking deep breaths to calm the body down into sedation, while focusing on one thought. That thought can be directly or indirectly tied to the events, but just one focus." he states before turning towards Cat" Mrs. Keller, your husband isn't going to do anything out of the normal, but he will not have the same depth perception. I do recommend moving away from him so he doesn't unintentionally harm you."

Cat's mind did reel a little at Justin's comments. Part of it was that the 'Normal' statement. It was obvious that JT did not reveal everything, which is a good thing. However, she wants to be with Vincent every step of the way.

"Um ok." she smiles a little uneasily. "I will just be over here, ok?" she spoke towards Vincent.

Vincent nods.

"I love you."

"I love you, too." Cat smiles warmly towards Vincent.

Vincent finds a good comfortable position and starts doing as instructed. He focused his mind on the image of Fiona, while taking the deep breathes. He felt his body relaxing.

"I'm ready."

Justin nods.

"Ok Vincent. I'm going to count backwards from 10. As I get close to the number 1, you will become more and more relax. So go on, and close your eyes."

Vincent complies with the request and continues to breathing deep.

"10, 9..you are now breathing easily and your memories are starting to flow. 8...7...6. You should begin to feel completely relaxing. The world is shut out of your mind except for my voice and the one focus. 5...4...3, you will find yourself dozing off into a state of complete relaxation. 2..1..you are now completely relaxed."

If Cat had read that transcript, she would call total bullshit. However, there was a method to how he was stating it. His voice got softer, and his tone gradually changes through the process, which she can only imagines tricks the mind into doing something different. She knows she relaxes when Vincent whispers sweet nothings into her ear, so there is something to it.

"Vincent, you may now open your eyes. Can you tell me what you see?"

Vincent opens his eyes and looks around. It was dark from wearing a blindfold. He could see light seeping through the dark cloth and heard a large group of people around him. He felt he was in a chair with shackles holding his arms back. As the memory begins to unlock, Vincent screams!

* * *

"No!" Tess held up her hand. "No goddamn way! I do not have time to babysit a new cop!" She folders her arms as she glares at Police Chief Ward. He had come by with a hat in hand to beg her to accept a transfer from Long Island 106th precinct. "I'm short staff as it is and Detective Keller has enough on her plate without having a tag along. Sorry Chief, but I have to respectfully decline."

Chief Ward dreads speaking to Tess because of her temper. He knew his request would not sit well with her. However, there is a new cyber-vigilante transferring funds from fortune 100 corporations with questionable ethics into offshore accounts. They think one of them was in the Cayman Islands, but it was difficult to determine where the money was going to, only that it was transferring. This process caused a lot of heat to come down on him, which meant he had his own problems to deal with.

"That was a rhetorical requests, Captain Vargas. Please, I'm not saddling you with green behind the ears rookie. This man is a decorated detective with ten years on the force. He may be able to teach you a thing or two about police work?"

Tess was drinking coffee and choked when those last words came out of the chief's mouth.

"What the hell is that supposed to mean? I worked hard for this position and…"

"Vargas!"

When the Chief hollers loud enough to rattle the windows, it was time for everyone to shut up and listen. Tess gulps audibly. Was she actually trying to argue with Chief Ward?

"I meant absolutely nothing about your abilities! You're a great cop, you are an even greater Captain. But this is a former special forces Army officer that left his military career with an honorable discharge and a chest full of medals. After that, he graduated at the top of his class from the Police Academy. Excellent record and damn good score on the detective exam." he stops long enough to look at Cat's desk. "And since Chandler seems to be setting her own working hours these days, I thought you could use the help."

Tess sighs and nods.

"You mean, Keller, right?" As much as she hated to admit it, Ward was right. "Ok, I can't argue with that. She just got a lot going on in her life, which causes her to be in and out." she shrugs. "But she's the best I got, so if you are offering me a well experienced cop around who can hit the ground running will be a huge relief." she takes a final sip of her coffee. "So when do I get to meet Steve Rogers?"

"How about now?" he smiles and waves his hand. Tess looks to see who he is waving to then sees a man outside the doors walk through heading in their direction. Tess stared a moment before dropping her jaw. Even if the chief didn't mention the military, she would have assumed by the form and posture of this man. After ten years on the force, some cops loose their brawn to coffee and donuts and it shows. However, this tall muscular frame moving toward them in plain clothes, which would make her swoon on any other day had likely never seen the inside of a donut shop.

"Faulks, I would like you to meet Tess Vargas, who is the captain of the 125th Precinct. Vargas, this is Detective Alex Faulks, formerly of the 106th precinct." The Chief places his hand on Faulk's shoulder. "Detective Faulks, Captain Vargas is your new captain."

Alex gives a polite nod and extends his hand cordially.

"Ma'am."

As she reaches out to shake the offered hand, Tess thought she heard it all before this moment.

"Ma'am?" Tess cocks her head in surprise and laughs. "Ma'am?!" she spoke again before laughing louder. "Have I really reached the age where I am a ma'am?"

The expression on Alex's face barely changes.

"Not at all, Captain. It's a term of respect. Where I came from, I could be court martialled for not addressing a superior officer with respect and protocol."

Tess chuckles and looks at him. She was deep in love with JT, but her subconscious mind didn't mind venturing them into the closet somewhere. It took all amount of professionalism to subdue that and ignore the fact he is extremely hot. However, it did strike her that he was an actual gentlemen. Growing up with five brothers and a mother who tried to teach them right, she was treated like one of the guys. Until JT and Vincent, she didn't know what it was like to be treated like a lady, which was a refreshing change.

"While I appreciate the respect, I would prefer you call me Captain, Tess, or Vargas. No more of this ma'am stuff because it makes me feel old."

Alex gives her a half smile.

"As you wish, Captain Vargas."

The Chief clears his throat.

"I need to get back to my offer, so I will leave you two to get better acquainted." he spoke before looking at Alex. "You're in good hands, but don't get on her bad side." he turns towards Tess. "I only give you my best of the best. This is one of the best cops New York has to offer, but keep him busy and out of trouble."

He puts on his hat and makes way to the exit.

As the Chief walks down the hall, Tess stares at his back with a raised eyebrow trying to figure out his last remark. However, she turns toward Alex with a half smile.

"Ok, well let's get you acclimated. Follow me to my office." she motions to follow her as she points out the restrooms, break area, and other key points of the station along the way to her office. However, she also used the walk to make key observations of him. So far, she and Ward had said more combined than this man has since their introduction, which marks him as a man of few words. There was also a sad, vacant look in his eyes. She seen that look before in veterans of Iraq and Afghanistan, which includes her brothers. Considering the Chief said special forces, she can only guess at what shit he had seen.

As they enter her office, Tess sat in her comfortable chair and motions Alex to do the same. She looks at his transfer record and blinks her eyes at the his legal name and alias. Alex was his alias.

"So uhh.." she frowns as she studied the first name the best she could. "How in the hell did you get Alex out of … Askuwatueau?" she scratches her head and stares awkwardly. "I'm very sure I butchered the shit out of that."

Alex chuckles, which was the first she heard it. It was a light chuckle, which made her relieved. She heard people get bent out of shape about mispronunciation of names, even if the act was unintentional. There was pride in your name and then there was being an asshole.

"That is my birthname. I think the reason why I am called Alex is fairly evident."

Tess smiles and laughs.

"How do you even say that? Where is your family from? Russia? The Ukraine?" she made silly assumptions based what she understood.

"Aleutian Islands, Alaska." he replies simply. Tess wondering if this guy had any sense of humor, or if the war sucked every ounce of humanity out of him. She knows that being a cop is hard, but she heard about the terrors overseas. "And to answer your question about my birth name, you pronounce it "Ask-u-wat-u-ea-u, but very fast." He flashed a warm smile.

Tess nods slowly as she tries to process this.

"Ok, that's far too many syllables - I'll be sticking with Alex. Thanks for that." she puts on her reading glasses and looks at the file. "So why would you want to be transferred from Long Island? Most of these guys would kill for a transfer to an upscale location like..."

"Captain." Alex clears his throat to cut off her line of questioning, while he looks apologetic. He did get a startled look from her, which can lead to starting off on the wrong foot. However, she was asking questions that went above the job requirements. He knew that she was trying to be friendly and playful, but there were reasons he wanted a transfer to the 106th precinct that he didn't want to give anyone the liberty to. At least, not for now. "With all due respect, Captain Vargas, but can we save this conversation for another time? I would prefer to keep my reasons to myself for now."

Tess looks at him astonished by his candor and respect. With the exception of her father, JT, and Vincent, she didn't meet many guys who were not intimidated by her. She looks forward to working with a male that didn't make sexist remarks or like he wants the ground to open and swallow him if she had to reprimand. She nods and smiles towards him.

"Of course." she then laughs somewhat embarassed. "I apologize for the third degree treatment. I honestly wasn't trying to be nosy."

Alex held up his hand to wave it off and offers a sincere full smile. Tess is very much in love with JT and the relationship is the best thing in her life. She would never entertain the idea of walking out on JT, but the smile he gave gave her goosebumps. Her insides flutter like a teenager in love with a rock star, who was graced to be built by God himself. Beyond his looks, there was an air about him that sets him apart from other guys, which reminds her of Vincent. Rugged, athletic, and probably could finish any fight someone picks with them. At the same time, there is a gentleness in his actions like they could cuddle a puppy or a baby. If JT gave her a get out of jail free card for any guy, that would be too much temptation. She sighs in a manner only heard by herself thinking it is not going to be easy.

"Hopefully he does something to piss me off." Tess thought to herself. If he pissed her off, it would distract her from the adonis look and good manners.

"It's all good. You were trying to learn more about the new guy; nobody can fault you for that."

Tess nods and slowly continues with his record before closing it.

"Ok, moving on. I don't know what you've learned about the 125th precinct prior to coming over here, but I'm going to tell you this is not a place for the weak. If you can't handle the sight of blood or if you are turned off by violence..." Tess thunks her forehead then laughs. "Jesus! Look at me telling an Afghanistan war vet about blood and violence." She shook her head and took a sip of her water then back at him grinning. "I'm sure in Alaska, you probably had weekly calls of Penguins holding up convenience stores, or polar bears hijacking cars."

Tess looks at him in hopes he will say something base, which would distract her from his quiet, boyish charm. Instead, the guy cracked a smile and low laugh.

"Penguins are in the south pole, Captain. But near where I grew up in Anchorage we had this paramilitary gang of terrorists made up of puffins, caribou, and dahl sheep creating havoc around the community." he glaces sideways with an amused look on his face. "It was hell. I couldn't wait to get to Afghanistan."

Tess laughs and shakes her head.

"I think you and I are going to get along just fine, Detective Faulks."

Alex just nods.

* * *

 _ **Uzbekistan Desert  
**_ _ **September 22, 2002**_

Fiona wakes up to bright light shining in her eyes. It was warm, but far from comforting. She rubs her eyes and blinks as she assess her surroundings when the spots from the light dissipate. With the exception of the sharp pain behind her left ear, she felt normal.

Then began to question exactly what was normal. Where the hell was she? Had she gone to heaven or hell? Was she in purgatory?

It all came flooding back to her. Her last memory was in the sand. Lafferty, Rodriguez, and Ryder. She heard shots fired.

After the confusion begins to diminish and world around her begins to focus, she notices she laying on something soft covered with blankets.

"Shit" she whispers aloud. She should be dead. As the reality hits her that someone or something saved her from certain death, a smile creeps onto face as relief spreads. She didn't know how or who saved her. However, the joy was short lived when she couldn't see any of for her friends or Vincent.

Fiona quickly sat up and looks around. Despite not recognizing the surroundings, she heard voices.

"I need 10cc's of morphine, STAT!"

"Get those clamps, now!"

She realizes she was in a mobile hospital unit in an army controlled area. There were a few spots in Afghanistan that a Blackhawk could fly to that was not near Kabul that would work out. However, she suddenly hears a familiar voice.

"Time of death, 0725 hours." Vanessa Chandler's spoke gravely nearby. "Don't notify the families or speak to anyone outside of command without notification of protocol."

The panic in their voices reveal the indiciation that all hell broke loose. She swung her legs over the side of the bed and attempts to stand up. However, she quickly realizes that something was keeping her from doing so...an IV and oxygen tube were keeping her body in this mordant prison.

As a second generation Irish-American, like her ancestors before her Fio could scarcely contain her tongue...especially when she was angry or frightened. "Where the hell am I?!" She shouts above the commotion. "Where is my team?!"

Almost immediately, she felt blood rushing from her head, which caused a lot of pounding. It didn't take long before Dr. Chandler and two medics were by her side to help her back into her bed.

"Fiona!" Dr. Chandler places her finger over the girl's lips. "You must stay calm. Your body has to rest." She strokes her hair gently and pulls the covers over her.

Fio shook her head and threw the covers off.

"Not until I know my team is safe! Are they all alive?" the medics attempt to restrain the feisty girl, but she provides them an ample challenge. "Where is Keller?" she demands.

Vanessa shakes her head.

"You will be provided an update on your team in a little while, but right now the best you can do for everybody is relax…"

Fio props herself up on her elbows starring Vanessa down telling she meant business.

"If somebody does not RIGHT NOW tell me where the rest of my team is and an update on Keller's location, I am going to rip out this IV and these fucking tubes, so please do NOT tell me to relax!"

"Oh shit…she's awake." She heard a familiar voice just outside as a medic wheeled in Lafferty who was smiling at her. "And causing trouble already."

"Mari!" She exhaled loudly relieved to see her. "Thank GOD you're ok. Has there been any news about Ryder and Rodriguez? "

"Only in the funny papers." Willie came in on crutches followed by Rodriguez in a wheelchair. "We heard shouting over here so we knew it had to be you waking up or somebody was trying to strangle a Jackal."

"Ha Ha…very funny." She snarls then grins. "Ok….bring it in…" she held her arms out to embrace them all. Each of them moved in as best they could embracing each other.

"So…" Rodriguez spoke in a low voice. "They had guns at our backs and they had every intention of firing them.' He looks at each of them seeing they were all as bewildered as he was. "What happened? How in the hell did we even get to the hospital?"

Fio recalls the moments before and after she heard the shots. The memory was vague, but before it all going dark, she thought she heard something out of the ordinary. Looking at the faces around her she senses they had all heard it as well.

"I heard footsteps coming from my right side." Ryder whispered so only the 4 of them could hear. "And just as the shots fired…" He hesitates before going further.

"You heard it too?" Mari interjects anxiously; her dark eyes widening. "I swear to God I heard an animal growling…"

Even though Fio heard the same feral growl they were describing, for now she played her hand close.

"What kind of animal did it sound like?"

Rodriguez shrugs.

"A bear? A big cat? I don't know what the fuck it was.'

"A werewolf." Mari tried to sound affirmative, but her tone indicated she did not know if she even believed what she was saying. "I do not know of any animal that sounds like that and that was no human."

Fio stood up and looks over the partition wall confirming nobody was lurking nearby then sat cross-legged on the cot.

"Ok..." she grabbed a napkin and a pen someone had left on the table next to the cot and looked at Willie. "Ryder…you said you heard footsteps coming from your right – did it sound like animal hooves...or...?" She prompts him for more details.

Ryder shook his head.

"Negative. It was boots." He was very confident in his recall of the moment. "When you hear boots every day, you just know, ya hear?"

They all looked at Willie then back and forth at each other. "You heard boots…" Fio looked from him to Mari. "And you say you heard animal sounds…what the…"

Before she could finish they could hear a soldier shout "Sir!" Instinctively Fio stuffed the napkin she was writing on into the pocket on her medical gown. There had to be more to this, but with a superior officer in the vicinity this discussion would have to wait.

Footsteps of the approaching officer came toward her cot.

"Conner!" Colonel Phillips shouts as he approached her bedside. "What in the hell are you squawking about over here?" He furrowed his brow at the others. "And that goes for the rest of you! You are in the infirmary for a reason! Now shut the hell up and get back to your cots! That is a direct order!"

Before they could leave, Fio sat up anxiously.

"Permission to speak freely, Colonel?"

"Speak as freely as you like…" Phillips places his hands on his hips trying hard to look angry. "But keep your ass planted where it is."

"Yes sir!" Fio responded. "What is the plan to recover Lt. Keller?"

The look on his face revealed he was not comfortable with the question. "That is a SAR concern, not yours, Lieutenant."

Fiona knew by the word SAR, it could involve Delta Attachment. Their rescues are compartmentalize to remove the possibility of enemy knowing when they were coming. However, this didn't settle her feeling on the matter.

"Of course it's my concern!" Fiona attempts to sit up, but the tubes pull her back. "He's a member of my team! We don't leave each other behind!"

Phillips sighs and shakes his head as the blood pressure monitor goes off.

"Now see what you did? You shouldn't worry about something you can't change! Now settle the hell down and shut up!"

"I'll relax when you tell me Keller is safe and sound in his bunk. Those assholes were going make us permanent part of the landscape! I don't think the guys that took off with Vincent have any nobler intentions! So tell me what's going on!"

Vanessa comes running to the bedside.

"Ok, everybody needs to go back to your beds!" She glowers at Fio. "And you! I told you that you need to rest as do the rest of you!" She now was looking at Phillips. "And Colonel, you just go back to wherever you came from! They'll be back at training after some rest, but right now they are mine! I will do whatever is needed for their well being."

Phillips snickers and salutes her playfully.

"I ain't arguing with you, sweetheart." he spoke with a grin.

Vanessa crosses her arms and bores holes in his skull with her stare.

"I'm not your wife and I'm not your daughter. The only one that is allowed to call me sweetheart is my husband." she spoke before giving gentle shove. "Now go. GO! All of you! You've all been through a horrifying ordeal and you need rest. Stay away from the army for a few days."

Fio sighs and places her hands over her face in exasperation.

"Ok, fine." she says as she looks at her friends. "We'll catch up later guys."

She smiles weakly and extend her fist for the celebratory fist bumps.

"See you, Fi." Miguel bumps her fist and everyone else follow suit.

"Please let us know when you find Vincent." Mari implores Phillips desperately. "You have to rescue him."

Mari turns and blows a kiss at Fiona before leaving. Fio frowns when Phillips nods and looks at the ground, but keeps quiet. Rodriguez shakes his head.

"After what we've been through, that ain't going to cut it for me." he bent down and gave her a huge bear hug.

"Ow!"" she attempts to return the same, but winces as her body was sore from being knocked around by terrorists. "Easy on the grabbage, dude!"

"That's what you get for trying to be a badass with a bunch of guys with guns. What in the hell were you thinking?" He shook his head at her.

Fio shrugs.

"He was beating the shit out of you and I was thinking that nobody messes with my team. You're welcome!"

"Yeah, I appreciate it, but you are NOT 10' tall and bulletproof, little lady." He teases..

"And apparently I'm not bitch-slap proof either." She rubs the bruise on the side of her face where one of the terrorists had smacked her earlier. "Ok, off with you. Go get some rest. We have earned it."

Rodriguez nods and rumples her hair before leaving.

"Take care kid." Phillips gave her a pat on the shoulder. "You do whatever Dr. Chandler tells you. We have her because she is the best there is."

"Yes sir." She offers a casual salute.

"Yeah, don't get up." He smirked gruffly. "Just take care of yourself." With that he was gone.

Dr. Chandler goes to exit, but turns around to point at Fiona.

"Sleep!" she orders! "I'm not your superior officer, but I'm in charge of keeping you healthy, Fiona! And don't think I'm above putting restraints on your bed to keep you here!"

The way Dr. C enunciates her name using all three syllables, it was evident she was not even close to kidding.

"Yes, I will stay right here. No restraint necessary. I usually save those for my dates."

Dr. C didn't even bat an eyelash.

"Really? So do I." she spoke before leaving. Fiona giggles at the response before laying back against the pillows. Sleep sounds like a good idea as her eyes flutter before drifting off into sleep.

* * *

"Vincent!" Cat reaches over to touch him.

"Do not wake him up." Justin calmly warns her. "Waking him could cause an adverse reaction. Right now he is in a place from before he knew you. If things go too far we will bring him out of the trance."

She nods and pulls her hands back to fold them in her lap. She continues to observe Vincent with concern.

"Vincent…" Justin's voice was gentle and soothing. "…it's ok. Remember you are seeing events that happened to you many years ago. You are safe. These memories cannot harm you. Tell me what you see."

Vincent's is shaking as tears stream down his face. Fear drenches his voice.

"I can't see anything. there is something over my face. It is something dark – a hood, or…" He pauses momentarily. Inside the state he was pantomiming motions as if he were really there. "Wait, I can see the ground if I look down. It is all dirt and sand. The man standing in next to me is wearing Converse All Stars. There are many people here and I can see lights shining through the shroud across my face. They are all talking to each other…I can't understand what they are saying."

"What else Vincent? Do you recognize any of the voices? What do you smell? Can you move about?"

Vincent shakes his head.

"Negative. My arms are tied behind my back. My feet are duct taped to the chair legs I can't get out." Tears filled his voice again. "I smell something…it is strong, coppery…it's blood." His voice was weak. "I do not recognize any voices…"

"Just keep remembering that you are safe, Vincent. This is not really happening to you. Are you recalling this moment…."

Before Justin could get the words out Vincent screamed in fear.

"Oh My God! Oh My God! They have a sword…a machete…they are going to cut off my head." He began to hyperventilate. "OH GOD!"

JT and Cat looks at each other mutually worried for Vincent. Seeing their expressions Justin offers a reassuring nod and resumed his focus on Vincent.

"Ok Vincent, I'm going to bring you back. You did very well. Once you are awake you will remember everything about your experience. Let's take a deep breath and I am going to count to 10. By each count you will feel more awake…2….3…you should be finding yourself growing alert of your surroundings…4…5…6…your eyes are opening and you are feeling relaxed and completely refreshed…7…8…9…you are now back in your apartment with Catherine and JT here….and 10." He watched Vincent sitting on the couch as though waking from a nap. "How do you feel?"

Vincent blinks and rubs his eyes.

"Ah…I feel pretty good, considering." He looked first at Cat and smiled then to JT giving him a nod as if he was confirming he was alright.

Cat took his hand and places the other on his face.

"Baby? What did you remember?"

Vincent closes his eyes as he recalls the details of the trance.

"We were on training maneuvers in the Uzbekistan Desert…." He focused straight ahead concentrating as more memories began to take shape. "…there were 5 of us….me, Conner, Lafferty, Rodriguez and Ryder….."

He described the events that took place that night stopping at the point when Justin brought him out of his trance.

"Oh my God, Vincent." Catherine's eyes brimmed over in tears. "No wonder you blocked that memory. I can't even imagine going through something so horrifying." She clasped his hand tight as he pulled her into an embrace and stroked her hair.

"Well…you were obviously rescued from death's clutches…" JT shrugged. "…because here you are. And you don't remember how that happened?"

Vincent shook his head absentmindedly as more and more of the picture began to emerge. He smiles as a memory of the first day at Bagram flooded his memory, the first time he met her…another time in the canteen laughing over shots, he could hear her laugh, the fierceness in her voice as she called the troops to order. It all came back as if it has happened yesterday. Vincent's smile grew wider and wider.

"I remember." He whispers.

"How you were rescued?" JT asked hopefully.

"Well, no…" Vincent slowly shook his head. "But she is slowly filtering into my memories as if she was there all the time…I mean she was there…they are my same memories…it's all beginning to make sense where she fit ."

"Like missing pages from a book that binds the story together?" Justin asked.

"Yeah." Vincent was now grinning as the memories made him happy. "I called her my Afghanistan JT. She was my best friend during my time at Bagram. And these memories are like the sun coming out after a winter storm." His face fell. "But, I still do not remember what happened to her."

Justin stood up and gathered his belongings.

"Little by little things will come back to you as we have more session." He pauses then turned to Vincent. "Assuming you wish to continue that is?"

Vincent purses his lips together thoughtfully then nods.

"Yeah." He replied somewhat hesitantly. "We made more progress than I thought this would, so let's go for it." He shrugd while emitting a soft chuckle. "Are you free tomorrow?"

Justin laughs.

"So I take it you no longer think this is bullshit?"

Vincent just shook his head.

"You proved me wrong. " He folded his arms and grinned wide. "Congratulations. As my wife will gladly attest to that is not easy to do."

Cat looks up at him and nods affirmatively.

"Yeah, my husband is a skeptic. With good reason, but it is not an easy task to change his mind."

Justin chuckled.

"I do get that a lot in this line of work. I am a psychologist with a PhD and have spent many hours perfecting this technique. I have even been on Dr. Phil." He sighs and shook his head. "But the majority of humans believe that I will turn them into a chicken. Go figure."

Cat, Vincent and JT all laughed.

"Common doc…I'll walk you out." JT motioned toward the door.

Justin turned to Vincent before leaving.

"If you start remembering anything else give me a call immediately." He hands him his card. "Otherwise, I will see you tomorrow." He turns and left with JT.

After they were gone Cat smiled at Vincent.

"Hey…I'm proud of you." She wraps her arms around him and gave him a kiss on the lips.

"I should be grateful that JT decided to tranq me…" He scoffs incredulously. "…but seriously? Who does that? Does anybody else have friends that go around shooting tranquilizer darts at their best friends? Have you ever really thought about how fucked up this all is?"

Cat giggles.

"Well, not everybody has a friend who can beast out at the drop of a hat. But yes, JT was way out of line shooting you like that." She wraps her arms around his waist and placed her chin against his chest looking up at him. "Soooo…now that we are alone…do you feel like taking your wife to the bedroom and show me your beast."

She starts to walk him backward toward the hallway.

Vincent looks at her and sighs regretfully.

"Baby, I would REALLY love to, but, I just got a text that Jake's bloodwork was completed." He sighs, and then grins. "But I promise…tonight you can wear your Belle gown and I will dance you around the parlor before taking you to bed and making Mrs. Potts cover Chip's eyes. But how about in the meantime you come along with me to check on the blood results, and afterward we can get a bite to eat so we can get our strength up for tonight?"

Cat pouts playfully and sighs.

"Well only because I know how important this is to you, I'll let it slide this time." She raises an eyebrow. "But if you ever put this girl over having animalistic sex with your wife ever again, we are going to have words…and I WILL break out night stick and the cuffs."

This made Vincent wiggle his eyebrows then he grew serious.

"Catherine, there is no woman alive that will ever come before you. But until I figure out why I am having all these memories coming back to haunt me from the war…"

"I know…I know." She touches his face and smiles. "It sounds like whatever your team went through in Afghanistan was horrific. You need to learn if she is alive out there, or if she was killed by those terrorists that took you."

Vincent nods.

"And the sooner we go, the sooner we can get back here." He picks her up and carries her swooping her body like a baby in a cradle causing Cat to giggle.

They were stopped at the door by Tess who was about ready to knock. Next to her was a man that Cat did not recognize.

"Ah...hi?" Cat smiled sheepishly. "We were just…erm…."

Tess shudders and held her hand out.

"Save it! Whatever it is will be way too much information for my stomach. I just wanted to introduce you to your new…."

"Alex?" Vincent set Catherine down and approaches him slowly, stunned. "Holy shit! Is that really you?"

Alex's face lit up as he recognized Vincent. "Vincent Keller? My God! I thought you were killed!"

The two men reached out for each other laughing and embracing each other like two long-lost brothers while Cat and Tess looked on completely lost by whatever was taking place.


	5. Chapter 5

_**Uzbekistan Desert  
**_ _ **September 23, 2002**_

A large splash of water hits Vincent face and body as he abruptly wakes up. The rude awakening was the new standard procedure for the last three days as he was bound to the chair. The only respite was an occasional sip of water and food that was not fit for consumption by any being. The cold splash was a refreshing liberation from the sweat and dirt cake spread over his body. However, a sadistic laugh replaces the shock of the cold as the man who laid siege on the camp rips the hood off Vincent's head.

"Wakey wakey….eggs and bakey!" the leader taunts him with an excruciatingly high pitched voice that irritates the hell out of Vincent while making the others gathered laugh harder. "Rise and shine pretty boy, today you are going to be a big TV star!"

Vincent frantically gasp as he gauges his surroundings.. He appear to be inside a large tent with at least 2 dozen men dressed in Afghan robes with their faces covered.

When these men invaded the camp, Vincent did notice that the leader did not resemble the locals with no olive skin and an accent that seems like a mixture of Cockney and Southern Twang. Once that realization came through, the rest of the group stood out as non-locals. The darker ones sound like cases in the ER that had a chemical reaction to spray tan than natural skin.

"What the hell is this?" Vincent thought as he stares at each of them. "There is something very wrong here."

His head been covered in darkness, but he was staring at a bright light on a camera. His surroundings had a small studio with an flag he did not recognize. However, the setup was familiar to him. It was the setting for a live execution for broadcast.

"Oh God! Please do not let mom and dad see this." He whispers to himself as he felt the tears starting to brim over. Losing his brothers was horrifying and his death would cause his parents further anguish. He would accept his fate, but he didn't want his family to suffer anymore.

Blinking quickly, he took a deep breath and swallows hard to retain any composure he had left. They may take his life today but he would go out standing on his feet with his dignity intact as he spits into their faces and rip off their identity shrouds. These assholes were not local terrorists and he wanted to know exactly who they were.

The leader addresses the crowd in front of him and shouts something with a salute, which the other repeat and cheer! Once everyone settled down, the red light on the camera came on.

"Smile, pretty boy." the leader leers at him. "Everybody in your filthy country can see you, which includes you hillbilly president."

Vincent wanted to scream as a man holds a serrated blade against his throat. However, Vincent would not allow himself to give these bastards the satisfaction to give in to fear. He might be terrified, but he remains stoic.

The leader stood off to the side of him with arms folded behind his back, which reminds Vincent of the raid on the camp. The leader spoke into the camera. Vincent was unable to understand what was being said, but it was very clear that it was hostage demands. Once the speech was finished and the camera light was off, the men put a shroud over his face again. It was dark and quiet once again.

It is sheer hell to be left alone in the darkness, but this is why the terrorist chose this tactic. However, Vincent is determined to not to be daunted by the so-called terrorists, but it is a matter of staying ahead of the game. He must keep looking for a way out. He could break the chair, but he did not know exactly where he was. He could die from any number of unknown variables before reaching a town or being rescued.

"Does anybody even know I am here?" He whispers to himself. He had no way of knowing if Team Charlie or the other squads were rescued. If he counted right, today was the extraction day and he prays that there were no corpses of his friends.

He had hope by a miracle that Fiona survived. He knew she would keep her promise to find him no matter what. A sacred non-verbal promise was made by two friends who promise to have each others back. All Vincent could do now was pray that somebody was coming for him.

 _ **Vincent and Catherine's Apartment  
**_ _ **Present Day**_

"Wait! Hold up! You two know each other?" Tess spoke in a loud voice over commotion created by Vincent and Alex's unexpected reunion. Vincent's arm was still draped around Alex's shoulder as he turns and grins.

"Yeah…ah…Alex and I served in Afghanistan together." Vincent was still clearly stunned by Alex's presence, especially in the midst of the recent developments. JT and Cat looked at each other with downright bewilderment; this was quite a twist of fate considering the timing.

Vincent could see that Cat is getting ready to speak. Knowing his wife, she is likely in the process of asking if this was "That Alex". Before she could get the words out, Vincent shook his head and slid the side of his hand across his throat gesturing her not to ask just yet. He could not recall the last time he had seen Alex or how close he had gotten with Fiona, so bombarding him with questions the moment he saw him would put him in more of an awkward situation than he already was in. Cat nods in understanding.

Alex shook his head and chuckles.

"I can't believe it's really you!" He looks him over then frowns. "I don't mean to drudge up bad memories, but after what happened…" He didn't know how much the others knew and was unsure of how to proceed.

"Alex, it's ok." Vincent half smiles pressing his lips together. "Everybody in this room knows what happened and what I am capable of when somebody pisses me off." With that he chuckles before continuing. "After I returned from Afghanistan, I spent over 10 years hiding from Muirfield living in sheer hell never knowing if I would be caught, or kill somebody without intending too. But, I would do it all again to get where I am at this moment. I met the love of my life who helped me fight to learn to control this curse and fight to get my life back." He looks over at Cat and pulls her to him. "And speaking of which…I would like you to meet my wife, Catherine Chandler…Keller." He smiles at her proudly and back at Alex.

"Hi." Cat extends her hand warmly to give a firm handshake. "It's nice to meet you…" Although her statement sounds more like a question, she gave him a polite smile then turns to Tess with a peculiar expression and shrugs as if to say "where did you find this guy?"

Taking that as her queue, Tess spoke up.

"Well I brought Detective Faulks over to meet his new partner and I had no idea that I was reuniting him with an old army buddy. So Detective Keller meet detective Faulks."

"It's a pleasure, ma'am." Alex gave her a polite nod.

Tess facepalms and scoffs. "Alex…we talked about this ma'am business." She folds her arms across her chest playfully. "No woman under 35 should be called ma'am."

JT clears his throat and approaches Alex.

"Hey, I'm JT Forbes." He extends his hand. "Vincent's best friend, Tess's significant other and Cat's..." He struggles to find an adjective to describe his relationship with Cat.

"Brother." Cat smiles as she approaches JT giving him a hug around the waist and a kiss on the cheek. "Or brother in law since you are like a brother to Vincent."

JT smiles and even blushes a little. Cat just always made him feel good about himself.

Alex grins then took the hand JT offered with a short, but firm shake.

"JT Forbes. I already know so much about you from Vincent's stories of growing up in Queens. You were mentioned often in his antics."

JT cleares his throat and glares at Vincent.

"Just know that whatever he told you, everything was always his idea! He was the troublemaker, and I was just his geek best friend."

"Who needed to get his face out of the books and live a little!" Vincent gave a mischievous grin. "Admit it, If it weren't for me, your childhood would have sucked balls and you never would have gotten laid!"

"HEY!" JT shouts back. "I will have you know that I happen to have my own ways with the ladies." He places his arms around Tess and kisses her. "As you can see I do just fine."

"Well to be fair…" Tess giggles as she gave him a squeeze. "You probably wouldn't have met me if Vincent wouldn't have met Cat."

"Traitor." He scowls and turns his back on her as they all laugh..

Alex watches all of this with a sad smile on his face. Vincent had everything he had hoped with Cat. Their laughter lifts his spirits briefly, but he could not help but think of what his life would have been had things been different. Would he ever find this kind of contentment in his life? His life had become only a bleak existence with very few moments that brought made him smile. He could not even recall the last time he had been happy. Vincent places his hand on Alex's arm and jolts the big man out of his thoughts.

"Alex? You ok, buddy?"

"Yeah." Alex nods quickly. "I'm great." He looks at Vincent and shrugs. "And how are you?"

Vincent laughs.

"And there is that dry wit I've come to expect."

"Glad I could help." JT answers looking uncomfortable. A tall, handsome dude will be working with Tess everyday.

"Well, Cat and I were just going to go out and eat…" He gestures his hands at them all. "Would you like to join us?".

Tess snickers at Vincent's comment thinking of the variables of the statement.

"You know me…I'm always hungry."

"I can eat." Alex shrugs then looks back at Vincent.

But Cat has another agenda.

"Hey…I'm really not hungry and I'm not really feeling like going out." She looks at Tess and JT and smiles. "Why don't we stay here and get a pizza and let these two catch up. I'm sure after all these years there is a lot to talk about."

Tess looks confused and feasibly disappointed that they weren't going to go out, but from the way Cat was talking she knew there was a valid reason for the request.

"If we get it from Martini's and at least half has lots of chorizo, I'm game."

JT nods then rolls his eyes.

"Yeah, but I won't be eating any chorizo unless somebody brought the Beano." He looks at Tess who pulls a small bottle out of her bag, shakes it, and puts it away.

"Take Beano now! There will be no toxic farts later." Vincent's face turns red as he tries not to laugh too hard.

"Yeah, very funny." JT snarls as the others broke out laughing. "Glad to be the comic relief tonight."

Tess giggles and gave her man a one-armed squeeze.

"JT is the target of our jokes, but it is only because we love him so much. I just use him as my sex slave."

"And even more information I could have gone the rest of my life without any knowledge of and still be ok." Alex sighs looking somewhat uncomfortable but gave a smile showing he was being humorous since Tess had been giving him way too much information about her life on the ride over. He then turns to Vincent. "Ok, I'm ready when you are."

Vincent leans in to kiss his wife goodbye.

"Thank you." He whispers to her.

"You can thank me later." She smiles impishly causing her nose to crinkle. "Have fun." She leans in and whispers.. "If this is the Alex I think he is, don't bombard him with questions about Fiona. It may stir up bad memories."

"Hey, I'm a married man now. I know how to tread." He smiles wide. "And yes he is the same Alex. A little strange, huh?" He cocks his head and folded his arms. "There is a reason he is here and hopefully he can help us."

"Yeah." Cat looks in Alex's direction who was in a conversation with Tess and JT. "I don't really think he is involved in anything sinister, but it is a coincidence that he has moved to the precinct at this point in time."

"Well hopefully he will feel ok to confide in me." He shrug. "Or over time." He leans and kisses her. "I love you."

"I love you." She smiles then jumped as he slaps her ass.

"Ok Eskimo boy! Are you ready to hit the town?" Vincent rubs his hands together.

Alex raises an eyebrow.

"You do realize by now I am Inuit, right?" he said with a smile. "Born ready in either case." he spoke before turning to the others to wave. "It's great to meet you guys. I won't keep him out too late."

"You should probably take a baseball bat to fend off the women." Tess calls after them as they walks out the door.

"Oh. My. God!" Cat was starting to sound more like her sister than herself. "Do you guys have any idea who that is?"

Tess rolls her eyes around then shrugs. "Justin Timberlake?" She replies sardonically. "I have no idea, and why in the hell are you acting like Heather?"

"Do you remember this morning when Vincent was telling us about the Captain that Fiona was in love with?" She looks at them both and points to the door where Vincent and Alex had just exited. "That smoking hot guy that just left here with Vincent is him!"

Tess nearly chokes out the beer she was sipping on.

"Shut the fuck up!" She shouts. "He just happens to show up now? And he is the boyfriend of Vincent's elusive friend?"

JT shook his head.

"So I agree that the timing is a huge coincidence, but let's not jump to any conclusions. Fiona's brother just had the living shit beat out of him and it has been in the news. It stands to reason that he has been looking for her too and when he caught wind of this, he felt being closer to the scene would help him find her."

"I agree with JT." Cat folds her arms and leans back against the counter. "His arrival is a coincidence, but I do not get the impression there is any malice behind it at all. I think he is a lost dove looking for his mate."

Both JT and Tess looks at her.

"Really?" Tess gave a short laugh. "You are really the romantic on this, aren't you?"

Cat just beams happily.

 _ **Bagram Airfield Afghanistan Desert  
**_ _ **September 24, 2002**_

Tears rolls down Fio's cheeks as she sat in the waiting area of the General's office for her debriefing that morning. It was not the fear of having to relive the nightmare they experienced during the survival training exercise in front of Brigadier General Weller that was creating distress, but the news footage on CNN displaying Vincent Keller's pictures all over the news. He was being called a hero as he sat there stoically with a knife across his throat as the leader made a speech. Heroic? A soldier feels their least heroic when they stand helplessly at death's door not knowing if anybody is coming. The least Vincent is feeling is heroic.

While CNN constantly played footage of that piece of shit who ordered their deaths standing in front of the camera telling whoever was listening over and over again in Pashto, the English caption flashed across the bottom the screen translated his words - Vincent would be executed if their demands were not met by 9/26/2002 at 08:00 hours.

"Conner! You're up!" Phillips shouts louder than he needs to since she was sitting right outside the door.

"Yes Sir!" She quickly wipes her eyes with the tissue she was holding then stood and salutes before briskly walking into the general's office. Since this had been classified as a formal debriefing, Fio was wearing her dress whites that made the young girl appear more mature than 21.

As she entered the office, General Greg Weller stood up as did the assembly of various ranked officers seated at the conference table. She assumes this was due to her being a woman. As she approached Brigadier General Weller, she stood at attention pulling her knees and feet together and offering a salute. "SIR!" The higher the rank of the officer, the louder her cadence. Much to her chagrin, she notices some of the officers, including Weller, were giving her the once over. Although she held her poise and expression, she did not appreciate being eyed by her superiors like she was a prize in a slave auction.

"At ease, Lieutenant Conner." General Weller returns her salute then motions her to take a chair.

"Thank you, sir." Fio sat down next to Phillips. Across the table was Captain Faulks. Despite Fio's half-smile, he continued to stare in the General's direction as though he did not see her; it was either that, or he was purposely avoiding her stare. "Another problem for another time." She thought to herself. She was not aware of anything she had done to offend him, and right now her focus was on getting through this debriefing and Vincent Keller's rescue.

Alex had a lot on his mind only part of which was his intense feelings for Fiona and the hurt her felt upon seeing the Vincent and Fiona embracing each other back at the camp. This thought occupied his mind, but he could not look Fiona in the eye knowing his role when the camp was attacked and the event that took place during the rescue.

Weller clears his throat and leans forward.

"Lieutenant Conner, let me start out by saying that I am deeply regretful of the events that took place the night of the 21st. I know firsthand the horror you experienced; as a young soldier in the first gulf war, I was held at gunpoint for over 30 hours while the lives of my team and I hung in the balance." He offers a respectful nod. "I am very proud of you and your leadership during the siege."

"Thank you, Sir." Fiona sat with her legs crossed and hands neatly folded in her lap. "But my team should receive all the credit they are due; each and every one of us reacted in the only way we felt was necessary to keep ourselves and each other safe and they all held their strength as best we could. I am very proud of them, Sir."

Weller flashes a grin in a manner that made her very uneasy.

"Ok, we will ensure your team is recognized for their uncommon valor, as will you."

Fiona presses her lips together and smiles. "Thank you, sir."

"Conner, why don't you tell us the events that took place that night from the moment they entered your camp until you were rescued." The General ask as she looks to Phillips who gives her an encouraging nod.

For the next two hours, Fiona provided all of the details that happened that night stopping to just before the moment they were rescued. She would never forget that moment, or the feral growl they all heard. None of them saw what happened or what made that sound, and she especially did not relish being discharged with a section 8, which would result if they were to find her mentally unfit to serve. For this reason, she felt it best to leave that out of the details.

"How were we rescued? I really don't know. We all heard the guns fire. I know when I woke up in the infirmary I was shocked that we survived the attack, yet thrilled that we were alive."

Weller sat back listening to Fiona watching her carefully. Once she had finished he pauses for a moment before taking deep breath and speaking.

"Lieutenant Conner, may I ask why there was not a lookout rotation during the night?"

"Well, with all due respect, sir, this was for survival training outside of enemy territory." She replied evenly. "I really didn't see the point of a lookout rotation for what was basically a camping trip." This made Phillips, the General and others around the table chuckle, except for Captain Faulks who continued avoid her eyes by writing something in his notepad and exhaling deeply after doing so. Something was clearly bothering him

"Well I suppose you can't argue with logic so simple." The General smiles at Fiona then broke out laughing joined by others, except for Alex who rolled his eyes uncomfortably then glanced at Fio who was without a doubt seething by the laughter and he did not blame her. He really hated the way the "Old Boys" treated women in the military.

"Permission to speak freely, General Weller?" Fio interrupts the laughter making it very clear she was not thrilled by reaction. Weller looks surprised by her response.

"Of course, Lieutenant."

"I believe your reaction to my account of the events was very condescending. Did I say something humorous, about a group of terrorists kidnapping a member of my team while the rest of us were left to be murdered?"

"Conner, mind your tone!" Phillips gave her a warning that reminded her of how her father used to scold her for mouthing off to adults.

Weller tugs on his short mustache and smiles apologetically.

"Lieutenant Conner, I meant no disrespect. I have met many people since joining the Army, but I cannot say I have met anybody as candid as you. I apologize if I have offended you in any way."

"Not at all, sir." She replies with polite curtness while folding her arms across her chest; Weller was becoming a colossal, narrow-minded prick in her book. Weller exhales and looks at his watch.

"Ok Lieutenant Conner. I appreciate you taking time out of your day to talk with us. Our committee will meet and discuss what we have learned from you and the rest of your team about the events that horrific night. It was a horrible state of affairs and I apologize that your team had to be subjected to this nightmare. If we have any other questions, we will be in touch. And if there is anything we can do to make this time easier, please let us know how. You are dismissed."

But Fio did not stand up.

"Sir, before I go, may I inquire about status of Vincent Keller and if the rescue party has been deployed?"

Weller looks very uncomfortable with the question but leans forward folding his arms in front of him.

"Due to the special circumstances involved, Keller's rescue mission has been aborted."

Fio sat motionless. She could not believe she was actually hearing this. She looked at Phillips who shook his head and ran the side of his hand across his throat.

"I see." Was all she could manage to say. "Thank you, sir." She stood up to leave, but inside she felt the room spinning around her with the bottom ready to fall out.

"Conner?" The General calls after her. She turns in his direction to face him. "You have been a great leader to this team. I know it is never easy to lose a member of your unit. And I know you and Keller were very close. Please know that this decision was not made lightly." He pauses momentarily. "Unfortunately as soldiers, this goes with the territory and sometimes we have to make the hard call. All we can do is accept this and move on."

Fio gulps keeping back the lump in her throat and nods.

"Yes sir." Her answer was very weak. Once again, she saluted General "Dick Head" and walks out the double metal doors.

Once Fio had left, Weller sighs heavily and looks at Philips. "She took that better than I thought."

Phillips shook his head slowly. "Don't let her reaction fool you. She is very close to Keller and I am willing to bet an entire month's pay that she is going to go to rile up her squad and they will be at our doorsteps holding pitchforks and torches. I tell you what!"

Weller nods and now looks at Faulks. "I trust Delta Force is on deck and ready to go when the call is made?"

"Yes Sir." Alex replies quickly still hating the fact he had to lie to Fiona. "The team is locked and loaded, just waiting on the order to move."

"Glad to hear it." Weller half-smiles looking at Faulks as though he could read his thoughts. "Do I sense any uncertainly on your part, Captain? Speak now or live with it. You may speak freely."

Alex sighs and leans forward folding his arms across the table.

"There is no doubt in what we are doing and I am always ready to rescue a brother; but I am not going to lie, I hate sitting across the table from someone and looking them in the face while they believe we are going to leave their comrade out there to die knowing well what the truth is. They trust our group to go through hell and highwater to get their comrade out" He pauses and stares at Weller's face before continuing to gauge his reaction. "And I especially hate seeing the pain these soldiers are going through. They were nearly murdered that night…"

"That will be all on that subject, Captain Faulks." Weller interrupts him sternly. However, Weller is learning no one shuts up the Captain.

"What they were put through was torture! What Keller is going through is torture and if you think Conner is going to go quietly into her barracks and forget about this, then you do not know Fiona Conner. She will not let this go!"

A coy smile crept across Weller's face.

"If Fiona Grace Conner is half the soldier I think she is; that is exactly what I am counting on."

Faulks folds his arms and leans in giving a look that few people seen and lived to talk about.

"Meaning?"

Weller presses his lips together cryptically and shrugs. He seems very unconcerned with the look that Alex was giving him, while Phillips discomfort was very readable.

"It means whatever you think it means." With that, he stood up, as did all of the officers providing the customary salute which Weller returns. "Dismissed." He mumbles before picking up his hat and exiting the conference room.

Once Weller had left followed by the others, only Phillips and Faulks remained.

"What the hell?" Alex asks Phillips as though he could not believe what he just heard. "Did he really just say he WANTS the kid squad to tag along on this mission? After subjecting them through major trauma?!"

Phillips twists his lips perplexedly then chuckles.

"I believe that was his way of saying, let our future Deltas show those terrorists who they are reckoning with…"

His face went serious as Alex gave that glare again.

"Each field-ready special forces member on my squad knows how to compartmentalize their feelings. We also know when to put some distance away from someone so traumatic experience does not jeopardize tactical operations. I have had more psych evals than any soldier on the planet and it because i have a tough job to do. I go over those front lines and experience more risks, which means parts of me have to stay in check. If Conner went through a psych eval right now, she would be on leave or minimized duty." he sighs and cringes at a thought. "I cannot play babysitter. Each member has to be coordinated, which is not possible if Conner decides to go rogue. That type of action gets people killed, which I will not putting up with for the sake of her boyfriend. Let me make that clear right now!"

"Boyfriend?" Phillips nearly sputters. "Now where in the Sam Hill are you getting this crazy idea that Fiona Conner is hitting boots with Vincent Keller? Because…"

"May I be excused sir?" Alex retorts abruptly. "Because if I'm going to be forced to babysit the young guns, I have a lot of preparation to do."

Phillips blinks because Faulks had never given him that sort of tone before.

"Dismissed." Phillips nods before Alex and stands to salute before starting to leave..

"Alex." he calls before the big man reaches the door. Alex stops because the Colonel never called him by his first name. For three years, it had been Faulks, Lieutenant, Captain, and the occasional knucklehead. He turns around and faces the Colonel, but remains silent. At least that was consistent with what the Colonel knew. The strong silent type.

Phillips took a moment to compose him before standing up. He knew that using Alex's first name, or the one everyone else knew him by would cause some confusion. He would not dare try to say his true name because he would screw it up and that was sacred to Alex.

"I'm not blind." he speaks as he moves closer and keeps hush tones for their conversation not to leave the room. "I have seen the way you look at Conner and the way she looks at you. Man to man, I see the potential for something amazing." he takes a deep breath. "As your commanding officer, I must remind you that she is under your command, which present a conflict within the U.S Military Code of Justice as well as conduct. I am not going to pretend I can make you all believe to every letter after hours, but I do expect you to hold yourself to the oath you swore."

Alex just nods. Phillips sighs in relief before continuing.

"Now, I don't believe for one second you will share classified information her, but the joints chiefs only see your jacket. They don't see the man of honor that I know, and they certainly don't know her. Now I apply the rules as necessary, but give some leeway when other superior officers are not looking. If you are in love, I am not going to stop that, but I am going to tell you as your superior officer to back off." he stops for a moment to let that sink in. "As your friend, I need you to step away for other reasons. Once Muirfield injects the soldiers, many of them will be part of your squad. As you said earlier, they need to be task oriented and that cannot happen if there is conflict of feeling. If she is shot or in peril, you cannot jeopardize the rest of the squad to save her from impossible situations. You understand?"

"Affirmative. That will not be a problem. Conner is a soldier and understands her role." He then shrugs. "And Conner is Keller's girl, so nothing to worry about."

Faulks walks through the door as Phillips sighed. Faulks is a good soldier, but he can sometimes let his feelings get the better of him. He chuckles knowing full well there was plenty to worry about.

 _ **Bagram Airfield Afghanistan Desert  
**_ _ **September 25, 2002**_

SLAM!

The door hit the wall in such a way it caused the plaster to further crumble to the floor as she stomped inside the gym heading right for the boxing gloves.

Fiona Conner had learned to hold her spirited, Irish temper since joining the army, but after what just happened, she wants somebody to physically feel the pain she was feeling inside herself. It was likely to lead to a Court Martial and prison, so the gym sounded like the sanest option. Once she had taped up and put on her gloves, she looks around the gym to ensure nobody else was looking before she let out a scream that would have frightened a Banshee as she ran full force attacking the 250 lb wavemaster where she spent the next 20 minutes unleashing all of her rage before finally collapsing on the mat catching her breath.

Once recovered, she gathers her gear and starts to walk away. Realizing the rage had not fully left her she gave the dummy several more hits before finishing up with thrusting side-kick dead center which sent the heavy bag off its balance that went into rolling slide across the hardwood floor that narrowly misses Captain Faulks as he walks through the same doors Fio had slammed moments earlier.

"Impressive." He knew she was angry and why but did not want add to her rage. They each seem to be on edge around each other lately which usually ended up in harsh words being exchanged, but today he felt it best to steer clear and out of her way unless she asks him to stay.

Fiona just nods.

"Thanks." She mutters as she took off her gloves, giving him a quick salute before heading to the showers.

"Lieutenant Conner." He spoke her name softly, but she stops and turns to him.

"Yes." Her reply was respectful, but with enough brusqueness to know she just wants to get out of there.

"I'm sorry." He answers quietly. "I know how much Lieutenant Keller meant to you. I know he was very special in your life…"

Before he could even get the words out, her green eyes flashed like balefires.

"Permission to speak freely, Captain?"

Alex nods.

"Yes, Lieutenant."

"You are in a position where you can do something about this. Why did you just sit there like a sack of flour and do nothing? You can speak! Why didn't you stand up to those assholes? One of your men is about to be murdered by terrorists and you are going to let it happen!" Her eyes began to fill up with tears. "How is it that you could you just sit there and let this happen?"

Alex sighs and drops his head. He wanted more than anything to tell her about the rescue mission. Phillips was very specific that they keep mum until after their marching orders were confirmed. So for now, he would take whatever harsh words Fiona had for him hoping she would soften once she learns her lover would be rescued. Before speaking, he presses his lips together and looks up at her.

"Are you finished making me the scapegoat in all of this? Or do you want to blame me for anything else? How about the twin towers?"

Taken aback, Fiona blinks repeatedly.

"What are you talking …"

Before she could get her words out, he shouts over her.

"If I was in any position to rescue Vincent, don't you think I would?"

Fio blinks at his reaction.

"What in the _hell_ is your problem?" She retorts.

"What is _my_ problem?" He laughs in amazement while folding his arms. "You are the one yelling at _me_ , yet I am the one with a problem? I don't know what kind of power you think I have Fiona, to a 4 star General, I might as well be an E1. So when General Weller tells me we are not going on a rescue mission, then I sure as shit am not going to be going on a rescue mission."

Fiona laughs spitefully.

"That is a load of shit and you know it! You are in charge of training the recruits for this fucking circus! When we signed on for this project, we put our trust in Colonel Phillips and we put our trust in you. And now one of those people who laid his life on the line is about to be murdered by the very same people that killed thousands of people just a little over a year ago! I still remember that day and my blood boils every time I think about it! Vincent Keller lost his brothers that day! Did you even know that? And now, his family is about to lose the last son they have! Can you live with that Captain? Can you sleep at night knowing that you had an opportunity to do something about it by even as much as speaking up just a little? I couldn't!"

Alex sighs. He hates fighting her this way, causing her additional pain. But he also knew that her pain was causing her to lash out at him and it was not him she was angry at. He checks his comm several times to ensure it was on and the volume was turned up.

"I can assure you, Lieutenant, I have had more than my share of sleepless nights since arriving in Afghanistan…I do not think I have slept well once since…" He pauses for a moment as his mind drifted to the events of the night her team was rescued. Not wishing to spill classified Intel, instead he closes his eyes and continued. "…since arriving in Afghanistan. And since you appear to be judging me on how I cope, based on my hours of sleep, to answer your question, I don't." He stares hard at her. "Happy?"

At a loss for how to respond, Fio hesitated then drew a deep breath and exhaled. She had allowed her temper to take over yet again. Although Faulks had been distant with her since she had returned from the Uzbekistan Desert (it hurt her), he did not deserve for her to lash out at him. They had grown close on a personal level and felt there was something brewing between them. They often took late night walks where they talked about everything from being in the army, to growing up, to their thoughts on the future and where they wanted to be. She looks forward to their time together and did not understand what changed. She was angry and wanted to scream at him "What the hell did I do?" But this was the army. Whatever reason he had, she had to let go of it and focus.

"I'm sorry Captain." She gulps audibly partially due to his recent coolness toward her and her embarrassment of lashing out that way. " That was incredibly uncalled for and disrespectful of me. I suppose because I can't shout at Weller, I was taking it out on you. But regardless, I was out of line. Please forgive my poor lack of judgement, Sir." She offers a salute, then turns to leave

While Alex believed the apology to be sincere, she clearly was not ok and did not feel he would be doing the right thing by letting her leave. Alex Faulks was a man of few words, and not the type to "talk it out", so he was going to help her in the only way he knew how.

"It didn't work then?" He calls out after her as she heading for the gym door.

Fio turns around with a puzzled frown across her face.

"Um…" She stammers as to how to respond to his statement. "…I'm sorry?"

Alex was not softening his stance as he gestures toward the wave master that had now rolled to the other side of the gym. "Your workout. You were beating the shit out of that wave master before kicking it in the nuts and sending it flying at me."

"I did not kick it at…." She pauses momentarily, and then folds her arms across her chest. "Hold it a minute! Were you watching me?"

"Yes." His response is cool and nonchalant.

Fiona shook her head.

"Unbelievable! Can a girl get any privacy around here?" Her spirits had picked up some, but he could still see the pain lingering in her eyes.

Alex shrugs.

"This is the United States Army, Conner, you left your privacy back home when you arrived for officer training. And it is a public gym. Besides that, I am your SO and trainer so I was checking your form. You are coming a long way in your fighting skills. I am very impressed by your progress."

Fio's eyes narrows to slits.

"I'm glad you approve." She applies the snark thick.

"It's my job as your trainer." He repeats his previous statement, but even as the words left his mouth, he was not speaking the truth. The truth was that he had been following her closely since she had left the general's office. While it was true he stares at her often admiring her form and beauty, it was out of concern that he stay close. Although she did her best to hide it, she was very distraught over learning they would not be rescuing Vincent Keller believing she loved him; he did not want her to be alone if she fell apart.

Without warning, Alex slap her on the shoulder somewhat playfully; just enough to make her stumble then fall on her ass.

"OW!" She shouts then jumps to her feet looking like she wants to throw him across the room as her green eyes lit up like balefires. "What in the hell is wrong with you?"

He stood firmly with his legs apart and taunts her to come at him. It was all he could do to keep from laughing. He knew he was creating a shit storm of rage, but he would rather her disperse her emotions on him instead of in a brawl at the tavern later that evening.

"Com'mon." He shoves the other shoulder. "Give me your best shot."

Fiona gasps at him with a peculiar scowl.

"You want me to hit you?"

Alex nods and flashes a grin.

"Yeah. Let's see what you got. Let's just see if my instruction has paid off " He pushes her in the chest just to taunt her, but his touch was harder than he intended and knocks her onto her ass again making him laugh out loud which seems to annoy her. "What are you doing? Are you just going to lay around all day?"

"Are you out of your mind? I'm not going to hit you?" She crosses her arms and gave off a smirk. "Do you recall the last time we went one-on-one? I got that rifle away from you with very little effort."

Alex scoff and laughs.

"You realize I am a Captain in the Special Forces right?" he said taking a stance. "Throw a punch at me and we will talk while doing this. I am mastered in 7 disciplines of Martial Arts. The _only_ reason you were able to get my weapon out of my hands was because I let my guard down and you got the hook. I will not make that error again."

This made her smile. Even just slightly he was glad to see he was helping to alleviate her spirits.

"You thought I was going to take off my shirt and show you my boobs."

Alex allows a smirk to creep across his face then points to himself.

"I'm a heterosexual male. A pretty girl begins to disrobe in front of me; of course I'm going to look."

The smirk disappears as his face became equable once again. "I am not infallible. I let my guard down, but it will not happen again. If you want to take me down, you are going to have to do it by fighting me this time." He shook his head in a condescending manner. "But I don't think you have it in you to even come close to taking me out." He moves in closer and scoffs as he folds his arms. "At the end of the day, all you are is a little girl with a few trophies for making fancy jumps over a few walls faster than the other kids. That will not save your life when faced with your enemy standing in front of you with a high powered assault rifle."

His plan to get her riled up was successful.

"You underestimate me, Captain. I may not be able to go toe to toe with you in a fancy hand-to-hand battle, but I am quick on my feet and agile. And don't forget I grew up in Hell's Kitchen. I can defend myself against the toughest thugs on the street." She grins proudly before she lunges toward him.

Alex watches her come at him preparing himself for whatever moves she brought at him. To his astonishment, she rolls to his right then quickly stood up and thrusts her foot against his shoulder blade. While it made him stumble, he was prepared for the force of her kick as he grabs ahold of her leg while attempting to spiral her toward the mat.

Fio hit the mat, but recovers quickly as she arched herself forward thrusting a kick toward the bottom of his chin. Alex seizes both of her legs then grabs her at the hip. Fio spun out of his clutch landing with her legs wrapped at his shoulders jerking him into a twist at his neck; had this been a real fight, she would have snapped his neck. Alex ducks out of it and lunged forward as Fio fell on the mat.

The contest of skills lasted several minutes with both of them taking turns outmaneuvering each other's action. While Alex was at the top of his game with his Martial arts skills, Fio did not lie; with each attempt to subdue her, she was able to react with an evasive tactic.

The match finally ended with Alex applying a roundhouse kick that Fio was not prepared for into her left shoulder that she was unable to block. This caused to her to lose her footing sending her flailing onto her side to the mat

Alex's face fell as he realizes he had hit her harder than he intended. As she hit the mat she winced before curling up into a fetal position moaning in pain.

"Conner?" He quickly made his way toward her. "Conner, I'm sorry. I thought you had that." No response came from Fio. There was only painful wincing noises. "Ok? Are you able to get up? Let me help you." He bent down and went to grab for her arm.

But just as he leans down, she turns onto her back and thrust her heels into his calves in just the angle that made him fall forward landing right on top of her, both of them laughing.

"Ok, that was a cheap shot." He playfully chastised her.

She raised her eyebrow and offered a smile.

"I got you again, didn't I?" A immodest smirk played across her face. "So what was that you were saying, Mr. _I am mastered in 7 disciplines of martial arts_?" She lowers her voice mimicking him playfully making him laugh.

"Ok…ok…yes! You got me!" He continues to chuckle while looking into her eyes enjoying being this close to her. "Your combat skills have improved, but your ability to avoid your attacker's strikes is amazing. I suppose I owe you an apology for the trophy crack I made earlier."

"Yes you do." She smiles speaking in a soft voice as they stare at each other. "A very big one."

"Sorry." He replies. "I will never doubt you again."

Without even realizing it, they were slowly gravitating toward each other as though the moment was propelling them together; neither of them making any attempt to pull away.

"It's ok." She whispers as he places his hand on the back of her hair stroking it gently as their lips drew closer to each other.

Before the moment could be conceived, a loud, squelchy, static came from the direction of his duffle bag. He sighs and dropped his head then looked at Fiona who laughs nervously.

"Sorry." He shrugs as he stood up, careful not to touch her inappropriately in the process.

"Duty calls, we answer." She smiles as she watches him take device out of his duffle bag.

"Yeah…Faulks here." His usually soft spoken voice barked into the speaker as he walked out of her hearing distance.

Fiona remains on the mat watching him. On the outside she was cool and calm but on the inside she was doing cartwheels. She could not understand why he had been treating so coolly, but their near-kiss reaffirms that his interest in her was not misinterpreted. Although he had stepped out of hearing range she watched him pacing back and forth. He was ridiculously good-looking, tall and muscular; this alone made her swoon whenever he was in her sight, but he was also intelligent, sensual and even though he could turn a man into a bloody pulp with one hand, he was gentle, kind…and incredibly sexy.

Fiona was thinking of the latter as she watches him standing there with one hand placed on his hip and the other holding the comm, but she was more interested in his muscular legs being offset by an equally fine toned ass under his shorts. She saw him looking in her direction several times during the conversation which made her realized she was staring and quickly redirected her focus by stretching out her muscles. She wanted to wait for him, hoping to make that kiss a reality, but did not want to appear too eager. Yet, she did did not want to pack up and leave to give him the impression she wasn't interested either. Instead, she followed standard protocol by packing up her workout gear and stood with her legs apart with her hands folded behind her back.

Once he was finish, Alex shoves the device back into his pocket and walks back toward her smiling. But this smile was not because he was happy. In fact inside he was at war with himself. He was still elated by the almost kiss; yet the guilt of falling in love with Vincent Keller's girl as he was being tortured and holding onto his life by a thread was tormenting Alex's soul. However, loving her also meant he wants her to be happy. It meant sacrificing his own heart to bring back the man she loves. He is a man of honor and he knew that despite the moment they shared, she was not his and this meant letting her go.

When he approaches her, she stood at ease waiting for him to return.

"SIR!" She shouts as she goes to attention and offers a salute. The kiss would not be continued…not today. His game face was on and so was hers.

Whatever that conversation was about brought him back to being her SO; his conduct is all business.

"At ease, Lieutenant!" The cadence echoed off the walls as he spoke. Fio returns to relaxed mode, hands folded behind her back and feet apart awaiting her next command. After pacing back and forth for several moments, he came to a stop in front of her and spoke. "Lieutenant Fiona Conner, you have been chosen to accompany 1st Special Forces Operational Detachment-Delta on a surreptitious maneuver to rescue an American hostage being held by a terrorist group. You are ordered to put together a team of no more and no less than 10 recruits. You will then bring your team to the airfield for deployment to the Uzbekistan Desert at 0100 hours."

The perplexed scowl on Fiona's face slowly turned into a wide grin as Captain Faulk's directive became clear They were planning to rescue Keller. How could she not know they would never leave their man behind? OF COURSE! Special Forces will only divulge details on a need-to-know basis. Clearly his conversation informed him that she was among those that needed to know.

Before Alex could finish speaking, Fiona excitedly embraces him. Although his presence remained stoic, the slightest smile plays across his lips enjoying the moment. No matter the circumstances, he is content that this news gave her hope, hence ending her grief. His only reaction is to place a comforting hand on her back before he stiffens up again.

"Lieutenant, fall back please." He asks softly not wishing to display any anger.

Fiona quickly pulls back and stood at attention quickly providing a salute.

"Please forgive my conduct, Sir. It was inappropriate behavior of an officer and it will not happen again."

Alex nods.

"It's ok." He replied gently. "You are dismissed Lieutenant. Welcome to Delta Force." He returns her salute and began to walk away.

"Captain?" Fio calls after him to which he stops and turns around. She notes his eyes displayed sadness, at the moment and she was unsure why, but this would not be the time to ask; all emotions must be placed on hold until after the rescue mission.

"Yes?" A hard sigh could be noted when he turns around.

"Thank you." She offers a wide smile laughing nervously. "I feel like a total asshole for the way I spoke to you earlier. Again, I'm sorry."

Alex presses his lips together.

"It's ok. And we're going to get your boyfriend back." He offers a polite nod before exiting the gym.

Captain Faulks was gone before the realization of his last words hit her.

"Hold up! He's not my b…" she starts to call out after him, but abruptly stopped herself. Her focus needs to stay on the rescue mission. She had no details of the mission that awaits them, but she would never forget the thugs that took her team hostage. They would likely keep him closely guarded and this would require precision. Instead, she went back to the mat to gather her gear and heads out the door feeling like the weight she entered with had been lifted from her shoulders.

On her way out. she caught her reflection in the glass door. A look of pride came over her as she pictured herself wearing the special ops gear she would be donning later as a grin spread across her face.

"Delta Force." She whispers in disbelief once the reality hit her. "This is _not_ un-cool."

With that, she flung her duffle bag over her shoulder and left the gym. She had only 7 hours to gather a team and get some sleep before it was time to deploy.

It was going to be a long night.

 _ **O'Mally's Pub  
**_ _ **Hell's Kitchen, New York City**_

Vincent and Alex sat across from each other at the table laughing as they recall stories from their days in Afghanistan while munching on appetizers and working on the pitcher of beer in the middle of the table.

"Busy place." Alex notes as they watched college students dancing to the band called Elton Joel who seemed to be making a name for themselves in covering songs by Billy Joel and Elton John. Each of the members wore jeans, white tee-shirts and leather jackets in the style of Billy Joel back in the early 80's while wearing the eccentric glasses once worn by Elton John during his hay day. The dancers were covered with glow paint being tossed at them by the band members causing them to cheer.

Vincent shook his head with amusement as he watches them then turns to Alex.

"Yeah, it's a popular place for the college kids to come in and blow off some steam." He chuckles then grinned. "You know…" Vincent pops another pretzel bite and finishes chewing before continuing. "…the thing about you I remember the most is when you were not teaching us how to use our fighting skills and weapons…you barely spoke two words. But the moment you stepped into the dojo, you turned into a hard ass!" He grins.

Alex took a sip of beer and shrugs..

"I store it up for the show." He taps on his left temple. "There is a lot of activity that goes on up in there. My mother called me the strong silent type…" He gave a laugh. "But my dad used to tell me it's better to keep your mouth shut and look like an idiot than to open your mouth and remove all doubt."

Vincent laughs and gave him a thoughtful half-smile.

"It is really good to see you again, man…I can't even remember…" He stops talking because he really did not remember the last time he had seen Alex. Taking a deep breath, Vincent leans back in his seat and exhaled audibly. "Ok…I really hate to bring this up, but it is time to talk about the elephant in the room." He looks to Alex as to gauge his reaction, to his relief he remains calm. Alex just leans forward and folds his arms before nodding.

"Fiona." he spoke with a faraway expression that appears to remind him of a time he was happy, but his blue eyes grew solemn. It was different from when Vincent was in Afghanistan. While he did accuse Alex of being a hardass, there was a warmth when you caught up to him on base. Now, he sees an expression that Vincent is familiar with. The trouble was that he knew Alex went into enemy territory a lot and faced many challenges. Therefore, he wonder what happened that surpassed that and change the man.

Vincent nods slowly as he looks directly at him before leaning forward.

"Listen, I really don't want to make this uncomfortable for you. I know you tried to keep things on the down low, but you were crazy for each other. Anyone who was around you for ten seconds and paid attention knew." he pauses for a moment as he thinks hard about what to say next. "Now I have to be honest. Until a few days ago, I forgot she even existed. However, a patient named Jake Conner shows up in the hospital. I haven't confirmed yet that he is her brother, but I remember the picture she showed when we were in survival camp and the guy has a dark reddish hair and green eyes, which also includes facial features you can guess once you take away the bruising."

Alex nods as he listens intently.

"However, I have been having flashbacks of those events, which are giving me migraines and other symptoms. It is like I went on vacation ad had this horrible feeling I was forgetting something. As a doctor, I see this as a possible manifestation of repressed memories trying to get out. It is like I want to remember, but there is something blocking it." he speaks placing his hand over Alex's wrist. He was trying to be reassuring, but it was hard to tell with the stoic man. "I'm sorry to put this on you like this, but I need to know if you know anything."

Alex sighs as sadness shadows his blue eyes; Vincent watches intently as he lowers his head staring into his beer for a moment. Vincent could hear his heart rate speeding up as Fiona's name was mentioned and given Alex's clearance in the military and now the NYPD, this told him he was not going to be too forth coming with any known details. Alex simply shook his head.

"I'm sorry. I do not know where she is."

Vincent cocks his head. He could not put his finger on it, but there was something that Alex wasn't telling him. However, he did not want to push the man too far, so he shifts in his seat and folds his arms across the table.

"Alex. It has been almost 15 years. I know you were close to her. I don't know how close you got with her, and that is none of my business. I really just want to know if you remember the last time you saw her because until I started having these nightmares I had no memories of her until Jake showed up." He stops talking and took a deep breath. "Look man, I only am trying to figure out what happened to her…."

Vincent stops talking and places his hands over the side of his head wincing in pain. Alex cocks his head and blinks at Vincent's sudden change of state.

"Vincent?" He places his hand on Vincent's shoulder deeply concerned as he watches his eyes turn to amber balefires. To an outsider viewing the situation, Alex would not have appear surprised by the change in Vincent's appearance. "Hey Keller…Vincent? What's going on?"

But Vincent could not hear him. The band played Elton John's Crocodile Rock that triggered a memory of his Afghanistan days that took focus. This one was different than the others as it seemed to play out in slow motion. He recognized the setting right away; the ballroom at Bagram base. It was decorated and the men were in their dress uniforms while the women wore formal gowns. The Military Ball. Although he recalled the event which took place the night before they had finished their training and received the Muirfield injection, the images which now flashed before him he did not remember.

Fiona walks in wearing a beautiful black gown, her hair pulled into a neat updo. The effect was complete with makeup and even nail polish. She was laughing as she twirls around showing off the look.

The next memory was on the dance floor with Fio; they were laughing as they dances to the very same song that triggered his memory. It was a jitterbug which Fio seems to be taking the lead.

He then recalls Alex cutting in then watching while they look into each other's eyes as they dance close together. Moments later he watches them leave the ball as Fio clutched his arm. Before they left she turns around and smiles at him.

He knew somehow that this was the last time he had ever seen Fiona Conner.

Vincent came out of his state to Alex lightly slapping him attempting to wake him up. They were no longer inside the pub, but outside in an alley where he was propped up against a wall.

"Hey…Vincent…common." He prods him.

Vincent gasps as he was now fully awakened from his state.

"What the hell happened?" He looks around at the alley around him and then to Alex completely confused. "How in the hell did I get out here?"

"You were transforming." He replies in his usual vague accuracy without going into detail.

Vincent cocks his head and stares curiously at him. "Did you actually carry me out of there?"

Alex shrugs then flashes a grin.

"I told them my friend was drunk and pulled you over my shoulder." He smiles. "Nobody even asked me any questions after taking one look at you."

Vincent begins to speak...but before the words could come out as the memory of Alex leaving the ball with Fiona at his side came flooding back to him. "Ok, I have some questions that I need you to answer."

Alex's smile quickly fades as he cocks his head looking perplexed at Vincent's sudden change of disposition toward him.

"All you have to do is ask." He replies evenly. "I have nothing to hide from you."

Vincent slowly stood up.

"The military ball. You danced with her that night. I saw the way you looked at her. You loved her. And then you left with her." His tone had grown accusatory. "You may be the last person to ever see her alive. Where is she and what in the fuck did you do to her?"

Alex's face went from deep concern to shock as he stood there blinking repeatedly as though had been punched between the eyes.

"What did I do to her?"

"Yeah." Vincent quipped. "The last time I saw Fiona was when she was leaving the military ball on your arm. She left that night with you and nobody ever saw her again! You have to know what happened! You must know something!" He steps closer to him looking directly in his eyes. "And it is kind of a coincidence that you just 'happened' to show up as I was having these memories!" He snarls and grab Alex's collar. "Who are you really? Have you been working for Muirfield this entire time?"

Alex stares deeply into Vincent's eyes. It was half the stoic stare, but there is a bit of tears in his eyes. The spiteful animosity from a brother in arms is always the hardest to hear.

"You know very well who I am, Vincent." He replied quietly.

"Do I really Alex?" Vincent's tone resounded venomously. "I am starting to wonder if I ever knew you."

Vincent's articulation became louder, offset by a disconcerting reverberation as his hands transform into claws, then backhands him. The force sends Alex flying quite some distance before colliding with a brick wall. Vincent is quickly aware of the horror he had done. He quickly shifts back and moves towards Alex to aid him. The last time he had hurled an ordinary man that far, he had killed him; an act that took awhile for Heather to understand.

Before Vincent could reach him, his ears heard a faint whisper coming from the street.

"Oh my God." A woman's voice gasps in horror. He could not see anybody, but a fast heartbeat came from around the corner. Before going to find to woman he took a look at Alex who was groaning and rolling his shoulder like someone who is very sore. Vincent's logical mind couldn't understand what happened. As a doctor, he knew that Alex should not be getting up when injured like that; a fact which Vincent would have expressed quite adequately. He was torn between aiding his friend and finding the woman who had witnessed his shift. He knew he did something terrible to a man who would lay down his life to protect him, but he also knew he had to find this woman and stop her before this information became public.

"I'm sorry…so sorry." Vincent grovels apologetically to Alex then ran off in the direction of the heartbeat

It did not take long to locate the woman who is crouching against the wall in fear.

"Oh God!" she stammers and moves away from Vincent in terror. "Please don't hurt me! I have 2 babies…they need me…"

"Shhhh….shhh…shhhh….." Vincent held out his hands defensively in an attempt to comfort her. "It's ok…please ma'am, I won't hurt you! I'm so sorry you had to see that, but I promise I am not going to hurt you."

"Go away." She backs still hovering against the wall. "I said go away! What the hell are you?" she pulls out her cell phone and began to dial.

Before she could do so, Alex appears between them, seemingly to have jumped from above them. But at this moment Vincent was more apprehensive about this woman's fear of him and what she would do with this information to give it much thought.

"It's ok." Alex spoke to the woman. It was calm, soothing, as he lifted his hand gently reassuring the woman. It was like a documentary on The Discovery Channel that show how zoologists would speak to a wounded animal. "You are in no danger. This man will not harm you. You are safe."

The woman relaxes before nodding her head. She moves from the wall and Alex walks slowly towards her.

"That's it." He smiles at the woman as he got closer. "No harm will come to you." Once he was directly in front of her he gently and carefully places his hand on his shoulder. "You may go home to your children. And as you walk, this moment will cease in your memories and will be completely forgotten. Do you understand what I am saying?"

The woman nods and looks into Alex's eyes then blinks as she looks back and forth between Vincent and Alex.

"Uh…" she stumbles with her words. "Were you saying something?" She asked as though she had awakened from a trance.

Alex recovers quickly as Vincent stares at him still wondering just what the hell had happened. Alex just flashes a grin and laughs apologetically.

"I am sorry to disturb you. We told our wives we'd be home by 11 and I wanted to know if you could tell us the time?"

"Oh." She smiles looking at her phone seemingly with no memory of the events. "It is only 10:13. You have 47 minutes to spare." She smiles and places her phone back in her pocket.

Vincent was still dumbfounded, but he did his best to play along.

"Well I guess we don't have to sleep at the bar again, eh buddy?" He chuckles and slaps Alex's back harder than normal.

"Yeah! That booth has my butt print dead center." Alex snorts when he laughs which amuses Vincent and woman.

"Ok." The woman looked back and forth between them peculiarly. "Well you boys behave yourselves and you should tell your wives to keep a close eye on you."

"We will do that." Vincent chuckles as he places his hands on Alex's shoulders to drag him away. "Have a great evening and be careful!" he spoke before dragging Alex around the corner so they are out of sight.

"What in the hell was that?" He hisses. "And what kind of Jedi mind fuck voodoo shit are you into?"

Alex gives a short laugh. "It's an old Shaman relaxation technique. Don't worry she's fine. The mind sometimes does not want to remember the unexplained, so I just replaced one memory with another."

Vincent shook his head incredulously. "What do you mean you replaced her memory with another? Is that even a thing? What in the fuck are you?"

Alex's smile quickly fades and is replaced ba spiteful sneer. "I am a man Vincent, same as you. You are not the only one that had their DNA messed with. But as for your question, I am Alex Faulks. I was born in the Alaskan Aleutian Islands and raised in Anchorage, Alaska. Like you, I joined the army for reasons of my own. I am a man, Vincent. We are very much alike in so many ways. Maybe someday we can talk about it more and maybe someday we will both learn where Fiona is and what happened that night. But listen to me very carefully…" Vincent gasps as Alex grabs his collar. His usually soothing voice was emitting a raucous growl characteristic of his own and his bright blue eyes slowly changed to yellow before they glow orange. It was as if Alex needs him to see him this way. "I did not kill Fiona. I loved her and she loved me." He could feel Alex's hand press solid against his chest. Vincent notes to his hands did not shift, only his face. "I would have never hurt her. But you are correct that my appearance at this time is not a coincidence. When it is safe, I will give you the answers you seek, but trust me when I say that is all you need to know."

And then he was gone. He had not blurred. It was as though he was there and then he was not. There was not even evidence or a scent to follow.

He could still smell Alex's blood in the air from where he had hit him. But how could the scent be so strong? He only directly contact the nose and the blood dried quickly. There was also the matter of him healing the blunt force trauma of the wall.

He healed. But how?

What had he done to that woman to make her forget seeing Vincent in Beast mode?

There were so many questions running through his mind of what he had just witnessed. He said it was a Shaman trick, but what exactly did that mean?

His blood scent was still lingering in the air as Vincent looks down at his chest where Alex had touched him answering his question; the pocket of his green plaid shirt was wet with blood. Furrowing his brow, Vincent pulled up his shirt by the lapel to examine the blood closer. It was then that he saw a folded piece of paper inside his pocket. It became clear to him; Alex had wanted him to find this.

Gently and carefully, he removes the paper realizing it was a cocktail napkin from the pub they had just been to. Only 2 words were scribbled on the back of the napkin – le bhfeice.

Vincent stares at the napkin attempting to sound out the words. The origination of the consonants made pronunciation difficult; perhaps it was greek or latin phrase. Maybe even of Gaelic origin.

Fiona was A Gaelic name – This was a clue. He picks up his phone and quickly dialed.

"Hi, this is Cat, leave me a message." He was usually thrilled to hear his wife's cheery greeting, but he really needed to talk to her.

"Hi baby, it's me. I'm on my way home. I'm sending you a photo, please look at it when you get this message and see what you can learn. I'll see you soon. I love you."

After hanging up, he took a photo of the scrawled text on the napkin and quickly sent it to her via text before heading home.


	6. Chapter 6

**_Bagram Airfield Afghanistan Desert  
_** September 23, 2002

Fiona noticed that even at 0100 that the base is chaotic like New York City during Christmas shopping season. A thousand moving parts occurred while the group waits for their security clearance for entering the SpecOps area. The highly controlled structure only had top military personally and SpecOps soldiers, which even George W. Bush himself, would require extreme vetting if he weren't the commander in chief.

Bagram is the largest US military compound in the Eastern Hemisphere. Even with her nightly run that took her in various directions of the base, explored the base, she never seen this portion of the base and it was kept top secret from all but essential personnel. Even discovering the section, they required extreme vetting for clearance. She understood the need for it since people like Captain Faulks lives depend on it. If some traitor got access to mission briefs, Captain Faulks' team could be jeopardized, which cost their lives and the lives of the people they are rescuing. Ultimately, this factor also jeopardizes the people they sworn to serve.

After the clearance had settled, officers escorted the team to a holding area inside the hangar area where a C17 stood. Captain Faulks and the flight crew were preparing the mission with a scary amount of efficiency. However, the logistics meant nothing to Fiona. She was distracted by how handsome the Captain looked in his regulation black ops uniform, which displays his muscular form to perfection.

"He is one tall, dark and Eskimo drink of oozing sexual deliciousness, isn't he?" Mari leans in as though she could read Fio's thoughts.

Fio jumped and blinked several times, startled and mortified by her friend's intrusion into her thoughts.

"Lafferty!"

"Oh c'mon!" Mari smacked Fio's arm. "It's written all over your face. You are literally salivating! Are you denying it's true?" Mari leans forward resting her chin on her palms while raising a playful eyebrow.

Fio stares at her for a moment then laughs.

"Ok, yes. It is true! I have a mad crush on the Captain! Happy?"

"I knew it!" She squeals excitedly. "I've seen the googly eyes between you two."

Fio presses her lips together giving her a half smile while shaking her head.

"Well don't get all excited, the feelings are not mutual."

Mari scoffs.

"Are you kidding me?" She looks over at him then back at Fio. "Sweetie, he is looking at you all the time. You are the only one he spends any time with outside of training and maneuvers. Believe me, baby, that boy KNOWS you exist."

"There was a time I thought so too." She looks at her dejectedly. "And then we went on survival training and the world went to hell…" Fio paused briefly. Although so much had happened since they returned, that night was not far away from their memories. There had been no time to reflect on what happened, only move forward. Sensing her rare break of emotional self-control, Mari placed an arm around Fio's shoulder as she too became emotional. Wiping the onset of tears from her eyes, Fio continued. "…and now he is stiff-arming me. It is as if somebody told him I have STD's or something. I don't know what his problem is."

Mari tilted her head curiously.

"Why do I get the feeling there is something more?"

Fio nods.

"Yesterday I went to the gym to blow off some steam. He was there…we fought for a bit and did some sparring…" She paused as she reflected. "I guess you could say we had a moment and it even seemed like we might kiss…but then his comm went off and he was right back to treating me like a leper. Now mind you…the comm he received was about this mission, so that could have been it, but..." She shrugged. "Who knows."

Mari giggled.

"Sweetie, I'm sure that was it." She assured her. "If he was going to kiss you, well that means that boy is into you. I predict you'll be knocking boots with that sexy Captain before you know it.

Fio's head drops as she watched several people look in their direction. "Well why don't you say that a little louder for everybody on the west side of the base because I don't think they heard you?"

"Conner, you're sleeping with the Captain?" Rodriguez retorts looking up from his comic book. "I was wondering how your climbing through the ranks so quickly."

"That ain't the ONLY thing she's going to be climbing." Lafferty adds as they all burst out laughing causing Fio fold her arms and shake her head.

"You guys are NOT funny! And why does everybody think I am sleeping with somebody all of the sudden? I am NOT sleeping with anybody. I don't have time to sleep with anybody…" She was interrupted by a loud groan to which she exhales while rolling her eyes. "Problem Hayes?"

"Well? We're here." Zach Hayes paces back and forth anxiously. "I dragged my ass out of bed after 2 hours sleep and all we are doing is sitting around listen to you bitch about your lack of sex. When is the transport going to leave? How long is this shit going to take?"

"Hayes…" she takes an extra-moment to consider her words. "You are the best marksman on our squad, but you have the patience of a 4-year-old that has to pee." She slowly turns her head in his direction. "Faulks told us to arrive on the airfield at 0100 hours; he did not say we were LEAVING at 0100 hours. And if you got 2 hours sleep, you got 2 hours more than I did but you are the only one complaining, so I am going to ask you nicely put a sock in it!"

"This is bullshit, man!" He continues his rant as though he did not even hear her. "I have better things to do than…."

"Hey!" She jumps to her feet and shouts to get his attention. "How many hours of sleep do you think the average Delta Force soldier gets before we call for them to get our asses out of the line of fire? You joined the Army because you wanted to be a hero, right? Well THIS is what heroes do! They make sacrifices and they go when the order comes through without question and without fail! And Keller is your friend! You grew up with him! Why aren't you livid about this? Don't you want to put a bullet into the twisted fucks that are torturing your friend? And all you are worrying about is missing out on some sleep! You are a real piece of work, Hayes!"

"And you are NOT my SO, Conner!" He retorted back using his index finger insolently pointing at her. "The only reason you even got this position was because you showed Faulks your tits!"

Fio's right hand clenched into a fist as she began to fume. It took every effort right down to the very tip of her smallest toe not to haul off and beat the shit out of him, but from somewhere she found the serenity.

"The instructions were to get his rifle out of his hands and nobody said how! You were idiotic enough to go up against an MMA fighter who is twice your size and can kick your ass with a single eyelash. I KNEW it was stupid to even consider fighting him. I got the gun away from him because I was using my brain and you are a fucking MORON because you actually thought you could fight him for it! So it was NOT because I unbuttoned a few buttons of on my uniform, but because I showed that I can think outside of the box and I got results. So shut your whiny, mama's boy ass up!"

"Ok…" Hayes sneered at her venomously. "…maybe your right, but I refuse to address you as my superior when you are in no way my equal. So don't ask me to respect you."

Fio just stood in place staring hard at him without saying a word.

"Oh…dude." Ryder face palmed and shook his head into his hands. "Why are you such an idiot?"

"I'm going to kill him!" Rodriguez shouted as he stomps toward Hayes, but stopped when Fio placed a hand on his shoulder.

"Stand down Roddy." A controlled smile spread across her lips while continuing to keep her eyes focused equably on Hayes. "I would have to report you and this piece of shit is not worth it." She folded her arms in front across her chest taking a few steps in Hayes's direction. "You don't like me? I don't like you either. You don't respect me?" She gave a slight shrug. "I'm ok with that." She continued her cold stare that bore right through him. "But let's make one thing VERY clear; like it or not, I AM the lead and I AM point for this this team while we are on this mission! I don't give two shits how you feel about me, but I will not tolerate any insubordination from you and I WILL report your noncompliance to Faulks and Phillips. Got it?"

"Got it…Puta!" He smiled acerbically and flicked his thumb off his teeth.

"Oh MY GOD!" Lafferty nearly screamed as Hayes stormed off. "Are you really going to let him get away with that shit?"

Fio smiled and shook her head.

"Not necessarily." She replied keeping surprisingly calm. "He will get what's coming to him without any help from me." Without another word she sat back down reviewing coordinates.

"How can you stay so calm?" Isaac Gambino agitatedly jumped from his seat after witnessing the exchange. "Where I come, you talk that way to a lady, my daddy would have fried my ass!"

Fio give a soft chuckle then shrugs.

"I'm considering the source."

"I cannot teach him. The boy has no patience." Rodriguez channels his inner Yoda which broke through the tension causing them to all burst into laughter.

"There is no death...there is only the urgent desire to slap the shit out of Hayes." Ryder sighed while shaking his head.

"Can it, guys." Fio looked down at her paperwork ignoring Hayes for now. "If you let him get under your skin, your are allowing him power over you."

"Please tell me you only brought him on this mission as collateral damage or as a trade for Keller." Mari spoke out of the side of her mouth so only those close by could hear.

"As much as I like the collateral damage idea, I brought him along because he is a damn good fighter and knows his way around an assault rifle. Yeah, he's an arrogant little prick, but he is one of the best we got." She looks up at them raising an eyebrow. "But if they request him a trade for Vincent, I won't hesitate for a second." She grins wide as the others broke out laughing.

"Ok team Charlie, you're up!" Faulks entered the hanger shouting and clapping his hands loudly. He did not need to shout with the acoustic of the hanger, but he knew how to make his presence known. "Move it, move it, move it!" he started signaling the troops to get their asses to the plane. Fio lips turned upward as it shows the contrasting difference in Faulks' personality. In private, he is soft-spoken; perhaps even gentle, but his command voice could shake the rocks right off the Afghanistan landscape.

Team Charlie did not hesitate despite him telling them to move it. Without a groan, they grabbed their gear and prepared to board the plane with a resounding "Yes, sir!"

Fio lingered behind waiting for Alex who offers a polite nod as he fell into step with her. Upon his approach, she stands up straight and saluted. "SIR!"

"Lieutenant." He returned her salute. "Your team was here and ready to go on time without fail. I am very impressed."

His compliment made Fio smile.

"Thank you Sir."

"At ease." He looks down at her as they follow her team toward the plane. "You chose your team well; but I am confused at some of your choices. Lafferty has not reached her potential in any of her skills and Hayes…he is a known insubordinate. I trust your judgement, but can I ask why they were included?"

Fio raises an eyebrow.

"And by insubordinate, you mean asshole, am I right?" Right after it came out of her mouth she regretted using profanity to regard a team member. "Please accept my deepest apology sir, that was not appropriate."

"Yes Lieutenant, that was not appropriate." His response boomed harshly making her cringe with discomfiture. "He is an insolent dick-head. In the future please choose your adjectives carefully." She caught his dry smile creep across his lips which made her shake her head and giggle relieved.

"You can really be a brat sometimes." She folded her arms smiling, keeping her voice low so nobody around them could hear. "You know that, right?" He laughed softly before she became serious again. "I understand your concerns, Captain. But Keller isn't here for reasons that should be obvious, so I do not have a large selection of prospects to work with. And while I agree that Hayes is a pain in everybody's ass, he is a very good marksman and his fighting skills are better than yours." The comment was in jest, and she bit the inside of her cheek to keep from laughing.

Alex stops walking, ready to set her straight until he saw her playful smirk.

"Cute." He retorted looking at her. His expression softened as he watched how the moon played off her skin and hair.

"We all know you are mastered in 4 martial arts disciplines, and you can pulverize any one of us without batting an eyelash." She smiles, enjoying their banter. "And as for Lafferty, she was chosen for this program because she is the boss with a blade. And while she is not physically the strongest member on the team, she makes up for it in mental strength and can keep her head together in a crisis. My gut tells me she has untapped potential. I would like to see what she can do when she is standing in front of the enemy."

Faulks nods.

"I see." Fio waits for a for a "but " or elaboration on his statement, but instead he offers a smile and kept walking toward the plane. "I trust your instincts."

"Ok then…good." She was surprised and elated at his unquestionable faith in her. While stoic in appearance and manner, he was a hard-ass in training sessions. They came to a stop in front of the staging area for the C17 the that would carry them to the mission site. "So where is that beast going to land? I don't think there are any airports within 100 miles of the area."

"Land?" He nearly choked on his own spit. "This is top secret, black ops mission, Lieutenant. We are not landing this plane, we are going to jump."

Fio blinked quickly looking as though she was hit between the eyes then looked up at him.

"We're going to jump?" She began to feel clammy all over. "Seriously?"

Alex nods slowly and cocks his head curiously.

"You didn't think we were going to land at the local airport with limo service, did you?"

"Of course not." She scoffed irritably in his direction for even thinking she would consider that as an option. "I am not completely ignorant, Captain, but the briefing did not go into transportation details; I figured it was a safe bet to assume we would be deployed at Pratt or Spann and ride in vehicles until a few miles from our destination. It appears I assumed incorrectly."

Alex exhaled and ran his fingers through his hair.

"Sorry." He replied apologetically. "I tend to assume too much. I forgot we are dealing with the kid squad." He regretted his potentially derogatory statement. "But so you are in the know, vehicles are too loud and take too long. They could execute Keller before we are within a klick. We will go in silent, fast, and precise. I will relay that to your team. Again, sorry I didn't make that clear." He now smiles. "So…are you ready to show off your extraordinary aerial skills for me?"

"Yes Sir! Of course!" She responds and salutes confidently; her body language, however told a different story

"Great." Alex nodded, seemingly distracted as he touches her shoulder. "Hey, I gotta run ahead and check last minute details. I'll see you on the plane."

And with that he was off and Fiona stood looking like she was ready to pass out. "Great." She wrinkles her nose bristling. "Just…great."

* * *

 ** _Uzbekistan Desert  
_** September 23, 2002

"I will be dead in 23 hours. Nobody is coming for me."

This belief circulates through Vincent's mind over and over as he hung onto the last hours of his life by a thread. He had given up all hope of being rescued; even if he was rescued, he did not believe he had the strength to survive. It has been days since he had been given any sort of nourishment and only a few sips of water a day was more torture than his body could take.

Why he was chosen among those in his squad he would never know. His friends were probably dead and nobody knew where he was. He had hoped for days that somebody may have seen the direction the truck went, but as every moment passed, he knew any hope was gone; after all, if they could not find a high profile criminal like Osama Bin Laden with all of the man power coming from every branch of the military, what hope did he have left?

And he could not stop thinking about the people holding him captive. Who were these men? He knew from day one that something wasn't right. The man in charge had dark hair with some gray showing through the scarf he wore on his head and he could detect a slight southern drawl at times. The blue eyes that looked out from behind his mask were cold and piercing. The majority of the men were from Afghanistan or the United Arab Emirates states; however, Vincent knew the leader was an American as were those just under his command. Why would a patriot do this to his own countryman?

Once again he closes his eyes under the shroud that covers him hoping to succumb to death before tonight. Although his hope had vanished, he bowed his head to speak to the only one he knew could hear him now.

"Please God, I know I have not been the man I should be and you know that I only talk to you when times are desperate. Maybe I don't deserve mercy, and maybe it really is my time to go. If this is the end of my time here, I can take whatever is coming to me, but please…don't allow my family to watch my death. Bring them comfort and help them make it through losing another son…."

"But, if there is any outside chance that somebody is coming for me…please give me the will and the strength to survive."

Vincent's eyes slowly closed. He had lost all but a faint glimmer of hope that his prayers had been heard and that the Cavalry would come tearing onto the scene and rip up those tents carrying him to safety. It was not death that he feared; as a soldier death was always on the line and he had come to terms with this. But just the very thought of being executed by the assholes who had murdered his brothers and thousands of others on September 11, 2001 when the towers fell infuriated him. He had come to Afghanistan to fight and kill these men, but here he was; a victim of circumstance. And he was powerless to do anything about it.

It was at that very moment that he heard the faint sound of the Velcro on the tent's opening being carefully separated followed by faint footsteps moving in his direction. Was this someone here to help him, or was his execution coming early?

When he felt the cool hands of this unknown entity touching his shoulders, he knew his prayers had been answered. The touch did not reflect the angered weight of a killer; this was a gentle soul which gave Vincent cautious optimism. He wanted to believe this man was there to help him, but it could be he was cleaning him up to the TV cameras.

"Shhhhhh." This was the only sound this person made as the ropes on his wrists were removed. His wounds were tended to and wrapped with gauze and replaced making the pain so much more tolerable. It had crossed his mind punch this man and run while his hands were free, but he knew in his debilitated condition his captors would make short work of retrieving him.

Next, the hood covering his head was slowly removed; his eyes slowly adjusted to the light as he watched his protector's form slowly take focus. Vincent recognized him as one of the 3 men who had been attending to him since he was captured. Vincent attempted to speak, but the man places his finger over his lips and shook his head then reaches under his robes retrieving a bottle of water then unscrewed the cap and places it up to Vincent's lips.

Vincent did not hesitate. The moment the nozzle hit his lips he began to gulp down the gratifyingly cold liquid, taking short breaths in between as not to shock his system. Once that bottle had finished the man opens up another and another until Vincent gave him the signal that his thirst was quenched.

"Thank you." He offers a raspy whisper as the man gave a short nod then opened a small bag filled with seasoned beef that he fed in small pieces to Vincent. It was the first real food he had eaten in days. His captors were not concerned for his health and he could almost feel his bones just inside his skin tissue. He ate and ate and ate…it was difficult not to swallow before chewing, but as a doctor he knew what affect the sudden rush of nutrients would play on his system. As he ate he felt his strength coming back. Yet, while he was grateful, he wondered why this man, who had been responsible for some of the torture he had endured, was now here helping him. For whatever his reasons were, the man would not speak or allow him to ask any questions of him. But as he was leaving, he reached under his robes and pulled out an MK5 that he placed on the inside of Vincent's shirt.

Once he had finished, he picked up the shroud to place on Vincent's head. Just after doing so he leaned in just next to his ear and whispered so softly Vincent could scarcely hear him.

"Be ready." Was all the man said before he replaced the shroud over his head.

Then as quietly as he had appeared, he was gone; Vincent was alone.

"Be ready." He whispered to himself feeling optimistic for the first time since being brought to this hellhole. The man had retied his hands after treating his wounds, but Vincent discovered that he was able to move within the ropes. This prompted him to see how far his hands would move. A bright smile spread across his face from under the shroud for the first time in days as his thumb slipped out of the bindings.

"Delta is coming to my rescue." He thought to himself. If the shroud had been removed, his elation would have been evident, making him grateful for its darkness. He did not know what was coming, or when…only the hope of a rescue.

But whatever it was, Vincent Ryan Keller would be ready.

* * *

Once the C-17 had reached its maximum altitude, Fio took the opportunity to wander to a less populated section of the plane and took a seat in a quiet location. Her team was hyped up about the rescue and the jump as well as being selected to join the elite team of soldiers. As they listened to their stories of their past missions, she could hear them all talking and laughing. It was not that she wasn't interested in taking part in the dialog taking place; the last thing she needed was for any of her crew, or team Delta to see her this way. The thought of jumping from the plane frightened her to the point of anxiety; her skin was clammy, palms sweating and her heart raced rapidly. Being trusted as a lead for her team was not a responsibility she took lightly and she would be damned to hell for all eternity before she allowed anybody to view her in a moment of weakness; even if it was because she was human.

Her father always said it is a sign of a great leader to never show your fear. Once that happens your men will never look at you the same way. While she did fully agree with her father, she now admitted to herself that her father had a point. It was not that she was steadfast in her composer, far from it in fact, she felt it best to keep to herself until she could regain her composure.

The only person to have ever witnessed her fears was Vincent Keller. She may have been chosen over him as squad leader; and that was only because she let Captain Faulks look at her cleavage, but she considered him her equal in every way, so when she was ready to crack the day they hid in that cave during the airstrikes, he was her rock. Small, tight spaces had long been her fear and she felt at ease to let her guard down with him. It did help that he was as frightened as she was by the loud noises created by the spraying of bullets and bombs going off around them. They sat side by side working through their fears together by telling each other stories of growing up in New York, where they hung out, about their neighborhoods, friends, etc. This was the moment they had bonded as true friends.

These memories lead to a soft smile playing across her lips; but the reality of the present changed that smile to tears. She missed him and wondered what he would say to her and how he would encourage her to fight her fears. But he wasn't there...and it was up to them to take him home. And right now she hated herself! Vincent was being held captive, tortured and would be dead in a matter of hours...and she was too scared to even jump out of the goddamned plane to rescue him his fate.

"You can do this, Fi." She whispers to herself as she took deep, cleansing breaths. "Just jump, pull the ripcord and you will be on the ground in a few minutes. People do this every day. You went over this over and over again in OTC...it's all going to be fine. It's time to put on your big girl panties and get your shit together!" But her self-pep talk was not working and she was quickly reaching the vomiting point. "Oh my God! What is wrong with me?!" She slams her fists against the jumper seat with rage.

"Well for one thing you are beating up on the only thing separating you from a 25,000 foot drop." Captain Faulks took the seat across from her and grins; that was until she looked up at him and he could see her tear stained face. "Lieutenant? Are you alright?"

"Yeah." She nods quickly then wipes off her face with a baby wipe from her pack then shoves it in her pocket. "I just needed some quiet to get my thoughts together...you know...first black ops mission and all." She shrugs. "I don't want to mess anything up."

Alex chuckles.

"Well if you do, we will just take you out to the desert, bury you up to your neck in sand, and leave you to the vultures and sidewinders." He leans forward placing his folded hands against his knee offering her a wry grin.

Fio's brow furrows while giving him a repulsed twist of her nose.

"Harsh."

Instead of a response he stares at her, making her uncomfortable.

"You know I don't believe you." He finally spoke. "You are as nervous as a virgin at a prison rodeo. Tell me the truth."

He watches her head drop as she closes her eyes and sighs before looking up at him again.

"Not buying it, huh?"

Faulks shook his head. "No. Anything you care to discuss with your Superior Officer?"

She took note of the emphasis he placed on "Superior Officer" as though he was making his role very clear to her.

"I told you…I'm fine. I'm just nervous."

Leaning forward in the jumper seat, he raises an eyebrow.

"Did you know when you lie, the left corner of your lip quivers slightly? You are also severely perspiring and…" He gestures toward her neck. "...I am watching a vein in your throat pulsing...that could mean a lot of things like acid reflux...or you just got finished running 20 laps..." He leaned in even closer. "...or you are having an anxiety attack because you are terrified of making this jump."

Fio gives a short laugh and a shake of the head.

"You can see all that just from looking at me?" Her head cocked slightly.

Alex sighs and rolls his eyes.

"It's my job and don't change the subject, Lieutenant." His voice was ardently strong without being harsh. "You are a very important player on this mission and if there is something distracting you, then you need to discuss it with me...or you need to forget about it and focus."

Fio sighs and nods.

"I was plucked from OTC and brought to Afghanistan...I never really finished my training...then shortly after I was plucked up for Project Muirfield..." She stares at her boots as she spoke then looked up at him. "I am stoked about this mission...I can't wait to get in there and bash their fucking bastard skulls in for what they did to my team and what they are putting Vincent through. These assholes do not scare me…"

"But you have never jumped out of a plane?" He raises an eyebrow and looks at her for a reaction.

Fio took a deep breath then shook her head.

"We did the drills...I learned how make the jump, but only went 30 feet into the world's biggest inflatable mattress. I know how to land...but I never actually made the jump."

"So, if you know how to do jump and you know how to land, you have all the skills you need." He probes her hoping to get at core of the problem.

"Because the world's largest mattress won't be there to break my fall if the chute doesn't open!" She finally blurted. "Happy?" She threw out her hands displaying the exasperation she was feeling as she waited for his reaction expecting the laughter to begin any moment.

But he did not laugh.

"So your fear is not jumping out of the plane…" He pressed his lips together looking at her attentively. "You are afraid your shoot won't open."

"Yeah." She exhales and gives a short laugh. "I know how idiotic that sounds…"

"No. It is not." He stood up and took the seat next to her. "Believe me, every single one of us on this transport was terrified when we took our first jump. They can tell you differently, but it is terrifying to jump out of a plane with 10,000 feet between the air and the ground. Even more so when despite the check and rechecking of the rigging, there is always a small chance your chute won't open." He paused briefly and folded his arms. "So here's what I don't understand. I have known you long enough to know that you are an adrenaline junkie. You can scale the outside of a building like a cat. You face the possibility of falling to your death all the time. I thought the idea of jumping out of a plane would give you the kind of rush you crave…why is this different?"

Fio thought for a moment; his question was reasonable and her response took some thought.

"I plan each jump in my mind before I execute my moves. I control the force and velocity and the failure or success of the jump is mine alone." She paused briefly before continuing. "When I jump from that platform, I can only trust that the person who packed the chute did their job and it is going to open. I am not in control and if the chute does not open, I will be killed because some asshole failed to do their job.

Alex reached over placing a gentle hand on her shoulder.

"I'll be right behind you the entire way." He gave her shoulder a gentle caress with his fingers as his voice softens. "Don't worry…I got you." He touched her hair then quickly pulled his hand away.

Instead of letting it go this time, Fio quickly grabs his arm.

"No." She cocks her head and took note of the torment on his face. "Not this time. Why do you always do that?"

Alex shook his head and looked away.

'"Lieutenant, you are in a relationship with another man. It is not appropriate for me to be this close to you, especially while we are on a mission rescue Lieutenant Keller, the man you are involved with." He shifts his eyes so he was looking at her. "And how can you even allow yourself to get this close to me when your man is being tortured? I care for you and I want to be close to you…."

"Captain…" Fio attempts to interrupt him but Alex kept talking.

"This is not right!" He shouts as though he was convincing himself rather than her. "Once Keller is rescued, things are going to go back to the way it was before…."

Fio places her hand on the side of his head turning him to face her.

"Yes Captain." She nodded zealously. "Things will go back to the way they were." She gave him a grin so wide the dimples in her cheeks displayed prominently. "Vincent is my best friend. And he will be my best friend once he is back with us." She gave a laugh. "Where in the hell are you under the impression that he is my boyfriend?"

Alex blinks and jerks back his head.

"Wait, what?" He sputters and nearly chokes on his words as they registered. "I saw you two together during the survival training sitting close together, then you stood up walking arm in arm. It looked like the real thing."

Fio laughs and shook her head.

"No. Vincent and I are friends." As recalled the moment he was referring to, the realization hit her making her cross her arms. "Now wait a minute….so, you were there in the desert when we were on survival training?" She raises an eyebrow.

Alex nods.

"You didn't know there was a support team in place because you weren't supposed to." he stares at her and crosses his arms, then cocks his head as the reality finally hits him. "So... you and Keller? You're not…."

"No." She shakes her head knowing full well how that question would end. "What you saw was two friends having an in-depth conversation. Its contents will remain in confidence between me and Keller...but the only thing that happened between us that night, was our friendship became cemented for life."

"Well…" He took a few steps closer to her. "...this changes things on the playing field."

"Not really." She stared hard at him. "There is still the matter that you have been acting like a colossal dick toward me lately." Her stare did not display anger, or even hurt; only that she required a direct explanation with no bullshit. "I was laying on the ground with a rifle pointed at my head certain that I was going to die along with my crew. And then…we learned that Vincent is going to be executed on live TV! I have not been myself in several days! I do not know if I am ever going to be myself again…but you are worried about your feelings? You did not even once ask me how I was, or if I was ok."

Alex sighs realizing that she was right. The truth was that he was there when she was rescued and he had a larger role in her squad's rescue than he could share. It was not because of what he suspected about her relations to Keller that caused him to keep his distance, but she did not know that.

"I'm sorry. It was neither right, or professional of me. I am not a man that deals with emotions...or feelings...or…"

"You could have just asked me rather than taking what you saw through binoculars at face value." Her reply came in a slow, even tone. "Why was it so much easier to be an asshole than…"

"I wasn't really finished…" He held his hand up which made her abruptly stop talking…which was not a simple task when the young Irish woman was loudly processing her thoughts. But she stopped immediately as an audible gulp could be heard.

"Fiona, you have to understand that there was much more that has been on my mind since arriving back from Uzbekistan." He retorts. "There many things that happened behind the scenes than you even know. Even if you knew the truth you may not understand…" He looks at her face before continuing; the last thing he expected was to find her smiling. "What?" He shrugs wondering what he did to make her look at him in that way.

"That was the first time you called me by my name….and not Lieutenant...or Conner…" She moves in closer looking up at him. "...Alex."

His name flows from her lips like a beautifully composed melody. Had this been at any other time at or place he would have stroked her hair and face and kissed her without hesitation, allowing the flow of the moment to take them wherever it went. However, he was the Captain of this team and as much as he wanted her, his focus had to remain on the mission at hand.

"I…" He opened his mouth to speak, but he was at a loss for what to say.

"Look..." She began fairly certain what he was going to say. "...we have a lot to talk about once this is over. But right now rescuing Vincent takes precedence above all else." Her look had become serious. "But there is something I need to know." She touched his hand and looked up at him imploringly. "How did we get rescued that night?"

Alex's mind was now reeling in multiple directions taking him into territory he never wanted to enter. It was classified information deemed so by those present that night, but didn't she have a right to know? Didn't they all?

He was relieved to dodge the bullet as the pilot's voice crackled over the intercom.

"May I have your attention please...we are 15 minutes from the drop zone. Starting with the first row, please secure your static line and you will be instructed when to jump. When instructed it is your turn to jump, you will not hesitate. You will exit the aircraft immediately. God help me if I have to send Brutus over to give you the boot! Godspeed to each and every one of you."

When the announcement ended, Fio felt like her heart was going to jump out of her chest.

"Damnit! I can't do this."

"Yes. You can." Alex assured her gently. "I always jump last, so hang back with me and you go right before me…I'll be right behind you. Ok?

Fio shook her head.

"And if my chute doesn't open, what are you going to do? Scrape me off the pavement?"

Alex exhales then laughed.

"We will be landing on dirt, and your chute is going to open. I am heavier than you, so I will fall faster, if the unthinkable happens, I have you covered. The chutes are sturdier than they look." He placed a finger under her chin and lifted it so he was looking in her eyes. "Remember who you are. You are fierce, strong and fearless. You can scale tall buildings, and I have seen you take out men twice your size. You got this."

Fio nods quickly.

"Ok." She replied breathlessly.

When the other jumpers had gone, it was their turn. Fio approaches the jump off and froze the moment she looked out. She started hyperventilating and broke out into a sweat.

"Oh SHIT!" she shouts looking at the ground which looked like it was miles away.

"Just jump, Conner." The Sergeant standing next to the hatch shouted. "Just take a deep breath, close your eyes and don't look down…or think about your mortality options."

"Shut up, Kriegel!" Tl.

"You have to go now!" Another soldier working the door shouted above the engines. "Ten Seconds!"

Seeing her struggle, Alex approached her and placed a supportive hand on her shoulder.

"Ok…count of 3…. close your eyes and jump. I'm right behind you. You can do this…. your squad is counting on you. One…. Two…. THREE!"

Taking a deep breath, Fiona closed her eyes and leapt from the platform. She opens her mouth to scream, but before she could do so her chute opened breaking the freefall and carried her safely toward the ground. Instead, she shouts from the rush and exhilaration the feeling brought her.

"I told you could do it." Alex hollered as he had caught up to her. "How does it feel?"

"This is AMAZING!" Her voice was filled with exhilaration and wonder like a child riding a roller coaster for the first time. "I can't' believe I was so terrified!"

"I knew you had it in you!" He smiles as he floats further toward the ground as he said he would. "I'll see you at the bottom."

Again Fio emitted an exhilarated shout as Alex shakes his head and laughs.

* * *

 ** _125th Precinct  
_** Manhattan, New York City

Alex slowly tapped on Captain Vargas's office door in response to a note sprawled across a piece of printer paper in large, red, letters ordering him to report immediately to her office waiting on his keyboard.

This was his was his first day on the job, and to his knowledge he had not broken any rules…at least not yet; but he was fairly certain after learning he was friends with Vincent, Captain Vargas would want answers.

"I sensed you wanted to see me." He grinned while waving her note hoping to defuse Tess's anger which did not work.

"Take a seat Faulks…. if that's even your name." Tess snarled before taking a seat in her own chair and folding her arms attempting keep her anger at bay.

As instructed, he took a next to Cat who offered a contrite smile which lead him to believe she was not nearly as pissed off as Vargas.

"Of course Faulks is my name." He furrowed brow echoed the confusion he was feeling." Why would you have any doubt?"

Tess stared him down before responding.

"When you gave me your career history, you left out the part that you were drafted by the NSA right out of the Army. And you weren't exactly an errand boy…you were a lead field agent! Now why in the FUCK would anybody leave a high six-figure salary position to a police detective? Explain!"

Cat rolled her eyes and sighed heavilly.

"Tess! Stop! You said you were just going to ask him a few questions! Give him the benefit of the doubt."

"It's ok Catherine..." Alex moved forward in his chair clearly annoyed by Tess's line of questioning. "…I can speak for myself." He folded his arms staring complacently in her direction. "As I told to you yesterday, my motives for leaving the NSA to become a police detective is my own private business, and with all due respect, is none of yours."

Tess paused briefly to regroup her thoughts before responding. There was no reason to believe Detective was anything but what the Chief said he was. And she could only hope that one eighth of the cops in her precinct were as skilled as Faulks with a track record of the same level. Tess placed her palms against her thighs and exhaled before responding. "Yes, we did discuss this last night. But that was before I learned that you served in Afghanistan with Vincent Keller, the husband of my best friend and my brother from a different mother. AND to top it off, we learn that you were the lover of the same woman who served in the same unit with you and Vincent and for some reason was blocked from Vincent's memories. You have got to understand my point of view and why I find it a little difficult to believe that and has all of the sudden been having flashes of memories from the war…a WAR from which Fiona Grace Conner disappeared and nobody has even received a postcard from her since!" She stared hard at him. "And yes…your reasons for why you took a 70% pay cut to become a detective are none of my business…but your timing is a little but much to accept as a coincidence…don't you agree?"

Alex folded his arms and slouched in his chair before looking up at Tess again.

"Ok, Captain, I am going to say this once more and with all due respect as my captain and colleague, I do not need to share my reasons for wishing to keep this information off of my records, I do not have to tell you and I am not going to tell you. Are we clear?"

"Faulks…you are treading on thin ice…." Tess began to shoot back at him, but was quickly interrupted by Cat.

"Goddamnit Tess, shut the hell up!" she hollered over her. "You know damn well he does not have to divulge personal details and if you keep bullying him like this, he has a case for Internal Affairs! Now calm your ass down!"

Clearly taken aback by Cat's outburst, Tess's eyes shot open as she gulped audibly.

"Ok, Cat just cussed…shit just got serious." Her lips pressed together somewhat amused by her friend's eruption…and she was also very right. Turning to look at Alex, she offered a contrite half-smile. "Cat is right. I was out of line and I sincerely apologize. But I am saying this not as your captain, but as a friend of Vincent's and one that is close to this situation, you have to know that the timing of your arrival is suspect."

Cat shifted in her chair so she was facing Alex's direction.

"Alex, I really don't think you have done anything wrong…" She shifted her eyes in Tess's direction. "And neither does Captain Vargas." The look she shot her made Tess press her lips together while lowering her head. "But instead of doing this on your own, why don't we all work together to find the answers? We are all trying to find out what happened to her. Vincent because he does not understand why a girl that was like a sister to him just disappeared and he forgot she ever existed…and I know you loved her." She reached out placing her hand on his arm empathetically. "A few years ago, Muirfield came and took Vincent away. He was gone for months. I missed him so much and I could not take not knowing. Thank God I got him back. I can't even imagine what hell you have been going through all these years." She placed her hand over his. "Let us help you find her."

Alex had always been a loner, especially since joining the army and it was difficult to open himself up and work with people. He stood up and moved toward the file cabinet. He paused for what seemed like an eternity before he finally spoke.

"She disappeared that morning. She was gone…without a trace. It was like she never even existed. Her clothes were gone. By the end of the day nobody remembered her."

Cat stood up and walked over to him.

"But you did?" She asked him gently.

Alex nodded and turned to look at her. Cat could see a single line of a tear that fell down his cheek. It was clear he was doing everything he could to keep it together and she did not wish for him to bring him further pain. He continued.

"I played along. There was a reason she was missing and we are taught not to ask questions. But I did ask. General Weller said she had been transferred; but I knew she wouldn't leave just like that without saying goodbye. I was the good soldier and did as I was told. But I never stopped looking for her. And I will never will until I know."

"I know it hurts to talk about it…" Cat folded her arms and leaned her back against the cabinet. "You don't have to do this now. Do you want to come to our apartment tonight and we can all put our heads and resources together?"

Alex sighed and offered a half smile.

"Yeah. I'd like that." He then added quietly. "I've been going this alone for so long without anybody to trust…maybe it is time to get some more brains involved."

"Well, you are getting free resources from Manhattan's finest detectives, plus JT and Vincent." Tess quipped.

Alex's wrinkled his nose and shrugged indifferently.

"I get that you two are cops, but JT is a biochemist specialist and Vincent is a doctor. What do they bring to the table?"

"Actually…" Tess had calmed down and was joining the discussion. "…JT has been helping Vincent hide from Muirfield for years; he is also a hacker. And Vincent…well, he's beast…he has a good sniffer. Between the 5 of us I'm sure we can pound out a few clues."

"Ok…so are we good?" Cat stood up to leave.

"No, sit." Tess ordered them both. "You have not been dismissed for good reason

Catherine did so immediately. When Tess said "jump" you ask how high on the way up.

"Ok." She gulped nodding quickly. "I'm sitting!"

"Now we are going to talk about business." She spread a report and photos across her desk facing in her direction. "We finally got a lead on our cybercriminal."

"So he struck again?" Alex thumbed through the report while studying the photos.

"Actually...no." Tess sat back in her chair folding her arms against her desk. "He has been quiet for a while now, but intel shows the hacker has made a sizable withdrawal from an offshore account and there are close to 50 transfers into personal bank accounts in the United States that will hit at midnight."

"How sizable of a withdrawal are we talking about?" Cat stared at the photos thinking she recognized the buildings.

"One Hundred and Fifty Million Dollars." Tess replied. "There will be some 50 people waking up with three million dollars' tomorrow morning."

"Ok…" Alex sat the report down looking bewildered at Tess. "…so why has this fallen into our laps? International cybercrimes aren't our jurisdiction?"

"No, but we are working in compliance with Homeland and the FBI because the culprit is right in our own back yard and some of these funds are being deposited into local bank accounts. We have been asked to conduct our own investigation."

"I know this place." Cat held up one of the photos pointing at it. "That is near fraternity row down the street from the university." She gave Tess a knowing smile. "We investigated this place back when Vincent and I first met...remember the fan boy who was staging his crimes in the bell tower?"

Tess nodded.

"Yes, how could I forget." She folded her arms as she sighed recalling the details surrounding the offender. "He was working here in the lab with Evan the whole time right under our faces and we had no idea. But I don't recall him being a frat boy."

Cat shook her head.

"No, but there were a few names on the suspect list and we made some house calls and every one of them wanted us to chug from the beer bong." They both laughed.

"Now that I remember." She shook her head. "If we weren't on duty, we would have made history that night." She chuckled. "Ok, go…" Tess shooed them toward the door. "And we'll see if the team of Chandler and Faulks can come even close to the dream team of Vargas and Chandler." She gave droll grin while raising her eyebrow.

"That's KELLER and Faulks!" Cat corrected her before walking out the door.

"Keller! Keller! Keller!" Tess slapped her palm against her for head with each repetition of the name. "I'll get used to that one of these days."

"Are you ready?" Cat asked Alex as he took a seat next to her in her mustang.

"Are you?" He flashed a buoyant grin as he buckled up his seat belt.

Cat chuckled and started the car.

 ** _Saint Vincent's Hospital_**  
New York City  
Present Day

Vincent sat in the chair reviewing the chart belonging to Jake Conner shaking his head as he stares hard at the patient as though he was looking for a sign from him. He had been there for several days with no sign of waking from his coma. This was even more perplexing than his appearance; his vitals were good; brainwave activity was functioning normally. Although the cuts were healing, his bruises appeared to be getting worse.

Completely exasperated Jake's mysterious circumstances, Vincent exhales loudly and slaps the chart onto his lap. "Why are you here, my friend." He whispered aloud then leaned forward in his chair thoughtfully.

"Well did you think that maybe it was something else keeping him in the coma?" He heard the female with the heavy Brooklyn accent coming from behind him. "God, you call yourself a doctor? Did you get your medical degree from a box of Cracker Jacks?" Whipping his head around, Vincent saw the same young woman he had kicked of Jake's room out a few days ago.

"I told you are not allowed in here!" He shouted and stood up, but before he could get the words out she was gone. He took off on foot after her, but she had vanished; he could not even pick up a scent. "Hey…" He turned to the security guard patrolling the ICU. "I told you that woman was not allowed in here!"

The guard, who was caught off guard by Vincent's accusation, looks to his right and to his left. "What woman?" He shrugs. "Nobody has come through here that isn't hospital staff or family in the last 10 minutes."

With the guard and everybody around him looking at him like he was crazy, Vincent started to question the staff if anybody had seen anything…it was then that they heard the loud crash of glass breaking coming from the end of a corridor. He took off running toward commotion followed by the guard as a small group gathers …it was clear the window had been broken from the inside.

"Did any of you see what happened?"

They all shook their heads, but one nurse spoke up

"No. I only heard the crash a few seconds ago when I was over there with my medicine cart…I notice everything and I will swear on the Lord's word that nobody came down this way!"

"It had to be something damn strong and damn blunt to break through that." A patient wearing a hospital gown walked up to the scene and stuck his head through the open window. "Not even bullets can break those windows."

"Did you see anything?" Vincent asks the man.

"Negative." He replied shaking his head. "But I heard something…like somebody wearing heavy boots running very fast."

This causes Vincent's eyes to flash wide open. "Heavy boots?" He shrugs before continuing. "Like Cowboy boots or work boots?"

"Combat boots." The patient was quite affirmative in his answer. "I did 2 tours in Nam; I would know that sound anywhere."

"Should we call the police, Dr. Keller?" The nurse asked him

Vincent shook his head and flashed a boastful grin. "I share my bed with one of New York's finest. I'll call my wife." He turned to the guard. "See what you can find out and I'll get the police in here to investigate."

He turns and walks back toward Jake Conner's room while removing his phone from his pocket and dials. "Hi babe…." He spoke quietly as Cat picks up.

"Oh honey! I'm glad you called…Faulks and I are working on a case…can I c…" He cut her off before she could finish.

"We can talk about that later. Right now we have something far worse." As he spoke he looks around to make sure he was not heard. "There is somebody in this hospital that has been flagged by security who keeps trying to get in close to Jake Conner…" He enters Jake's room and closes the door behind him. To his relief, Conner was in the same condition he had been in before he left him. "…it's a young girl that says she is his girlfriend. This is the second time she has been in the ICU and she is somehow getting past the guards without being seen. The only evidence that she was even here is a broken window at the end of the corridor made of bullet proof glass that was broken from the inside. In the Military, this is what we would have called a Ghost."

Cat stopped walking and stood still. "Ghost? And by Ghost I assume you don't mean the spirit of a dead person?"

"Well for the training these people have to go through and what they have to give up, it is like losing your soul, hence part of the reason they are called Ghosts. But this would be a deep cover military operative that is able to get in and out of places without being seen or even detected. It is a very rare breed that can pull it off."

Cat held up her hand to Alex signaling him she would be a moment. "Is she still inside the hospital?"

"I don't know." Vincent shook his head then places his hand behind his head and paces about as he spoke. "But that is not even the weird part…moments after I saw her, somebody was able to break through a bulletproof window from the inside. A lot of people heard the commotion and the window break, but not a single person saw how it happened."

"Any blood on the glass?" She asked.

"None." His tone echoed his astonishment. "It looks like somebody took large high-powered cannon and shot clean through." He looked around to ensure he was not heard before continuing. "I don't even think I could make that kind of impact on my best days."

Cat exhaled and paced back and forth. "I want to come check it out, but right now Alex and I are questioning persons of interest in one of our cases. I'll call the precinct and get and investigation going, and we'll be there when we're done here., ok?"

"Noted." Vincent's response was only half focused as he noticed some movement coming from Jake's brainwave monitor. "Babe, there is something I need to look into I gotta go."

"Ok." She replied. "We'll be there as soon as we can. And Vincent…let the police handle this."

But Cat's warning fell on deaf ears as Vincent had already hung up.

Placing his phone back in his front pocket, he cocks his head studying Jake's monitor. There were several spikes recorded in the last few minutes. "You can hear me, can't you?"

The spikes appeared once more which brought a smile to Vincent's face.

"If you can hear me, you aren't too far from waking up." He quickly frowns as he recalls what the woman had said to him before she took off.

 ** _"_** ** _Well did you think that maybe it is something else keeping him in his coma?"_**

Vincent grabs Jake's chart checking it quickly as though looking for something specific.

"Shit!" He groans then picked up the phone next to Jake's bedside. "Yeah…has anybody run a toxicology screen on the Conner kid?" He abruptly asked the person on the other end then paused listening to the response. "I am not convinced the beating he received was what put him in a coma. Call the lab and get that tox screen…stat. I want him checked for any Neuromuscular blockers." He hung up the phone and looks at the monitor which was showing more and more activity. "You aren't in a coma at all? You're in a state of paralysis, aren't you? You were put in this state by someone…but why?"

The monitor was beeping out of control.

"Ok…Jake just calm down. I'm a friend of your sister's. I know you can't talk to me, but you can hear me. I am going ask you some questions. If the answer is no, try not to make any noise…or very little. If the answer is yes, you make as much noise as you can." He looks up at the monitor. "If you can understand what I am telling you, do something that will make this monitor beep."

The monitor made a series of short beeps.

Vincent grins and pulls out his clipboard and clicked his pen. "Alright, let's get this started. Did somebody do this to you?"

Beep

Vincent wrote something on the clipboard.

"Ok…good. Was person, or persons who did this for you someone that knew your sister?"

No sound.

"Do you know the person who did this to you?"

Beep

"Was there more than one attacker?"

No sound.

"Was your attacker a male?"

No Sound.

"Female?"

A series of beeps resonated from the monitor as if there was something he wanted to tell him. Vincent's closes his eyes feeling exasperated. He could only ask questions that required a yes or no response and the beeps could give him the whole story.

"Do you know why…." He stops and sighs before redirecting his question. "Did you request to be placed in this state?"

The monitor beeped several times.

Vincent places his palms against his forehead unsure of what direction he should take his questions next.

 ** _"_** ** _Well did you think that maybe it is something else keeping him in his coma?"_**

The words of that insolent girl claiming to be Jacob's girlfriend came back to him as if a light had been

turned on. He stood up looking over Jake's bruises wondering why they were not healing faster; the swelling had gone down, and typically, the recovery rate for bruises of this level would show at least signs of healing. The bruises seemed to be getting worse instead of better.

"Jacob, are you a hemophiliac?"

BEEP

"Goddammit!" Vincent shouted and picked up the phone next to the bedside. "Yeah, This is Keller again did anybody check Jacob Conner's medical history when he checked in?" He barked into the phone. His expression grew more and more confused as he listened. "What do you mean that information was not available when he was admitted? It is your job to…" He stopped talking as the person on the other end cut him off. "Records do not just get up and walk away?" He blinked several times as the person responded. "Erased? How is that even possible? Everybody who walks through here goes through an admission process and any observations…." He went quiet as the very persistent voice on the other end repeated that his records have been erased in the computer system. "I see." He repeated quietly not feeling closer to the answers than before he called. "Thank you." He slowly hung up the phone than sat down dejectedly for several minutes placing his elbows against his knees as his face was covered by his palms.

Moments later he exhaled before picking up the phone again and dialing. "Hey, this is Vincent Keller." He greeted the person on the other end. "I really need to talk to you and get this figured out. I feel like there is more at work that what is on the surface." He paused while the person at the other end responded. "Ok, 5 PM, can you come to my office? Great, see you then."

* * *

 ** _Uzbekistan Desert_**  
September 23, 2002

After the jump, Fiona and Alex were quickly reunited with their team and hiked to the staging site where they were given a small meal. There was no time for socializing; for the next several hours they were in strategy meetings before they were allowed 10 hours to rest before they would hike to the tent compound where Keller was being held.

After the rest period, the team gathered in the war room where they would go over the strategy for the rescue. There would be no time for pleasantries; planning this mission required quick work and strategic preparation.

Fio was surprised to see Colonel Phillips come forward and take his place next to Alex during the briefing. For sure he was a man full of surprises; where was he on the flight?

Standing next to Phillips was another man dressed in civilian desert style clothing. Fio did not recall seeing the man before, but by the arrogant manner in which he was carrying himself, she assumed he was Murifield. Phillips's eyes darted back and forth between him and General Weller and did not appear overjoyed that either of them was there. The man appeared to be in his late 30's, maybe early 40's with black hair graying at the temples. Although he was very handsome, Fio's instinct told her that was as on the level as a $3-dollar bill. The moments that followed confirmed her instincts were valid.

As Phillips took the podium, all stood at attention.

"At ease." His cadence projected over the soldiers gathered. "Ok, I'm going to make this quick. We have all been briefed and each of you should know your role." He pointed to a figure on the infrared map. "According to our intel, this has been Keller's location since he was taken hostage. You should all have the coordinates. If everyone plays their parts correctly, this will be a quick in and quick out. We are going to surround the parameter, Conner is going to use her fancy cat woman skills and lower herself into the tent just above Keller while covered by Faulks and Gambino and get him to safety. The rest of you walk in with your guns blasting and take no prisoners... I'm not transporting that terrorists shit anywhere." He took a long pause looking at the faces of each man and woman sitting before him with a slight smile on his face before continuing. "Let's remember when we get down there, this is not a simulation; we will be facing real blood and real bullets! You have all seen combat before , but I guarantee that this will be unlike any battle you have faced before. For any of you who may have doubts about going in shooting…know there will be blood spilled. If you even think of hesitating for a moment before shooting, that blood will be yours. These people are terrorists and will not give a second thought about blowing out your brains. And when we return to Bagram, my plan is to sleep this mission off until my body has recovered and I'll be damned if I am going to use any of that time send a letter to mom and dad informing them of your death."

The newcomer walked up to the podium and stood next to Phillips and cleared his throat. "If you don't mind, sir there is something I would like to add to your eloquent speech."

Phillips's sigh pounded against the mic as he turned in the man's direction.

"And now a word from our sponsor…" He gave a smirk then rolled his eyes before gesturing for him to take over. Fio had come to trust Phillips judgment of character, and if he was rolling his eyes, then there was good reason.

"Thank you Colonel, you really have a way with your words, I don't know how I'm going to follow that rousing speech." His heavy Southern accent was charming enough, but the body language still indicated he was a tool. "Hello ya'll, most of you do not know me. My name is Silas Christian. I am the Vice President of Operations for the Murifield Corporation. I just want to say that I am very proud of each and every one of you soldiers. We are asking a lot of you by being a part of this program, but I guarantee when this is over, you will also become an elite team that will be unstoppable!"

Everyone broke out in cheers…well, almost everyone….

"This guy is a crowd pleaser for sure." Mari's whispered sarcastically to Fio who nodded in agreement.

"I don't even think he knows that only 10 of us here are recruits for their project." Fio smirked back.

"Yeah, but he's very easy on the eyes…and that accent…hell, I'd do him." Mari quipped as Fio closed her eyes and shook her head.

"You're messed up." She chuckled. "There is no hope for you."

"What?" Mari shrugged and pretending to be naive.

Christian continued his speech.

"The United States took a hit on September 11, 2001 and now we are hitting back. So let's all get out there and kick some camel jockeys in the ass. And more importantly, let's be safe out there!" His speech was quick and to the point. Most cheered once he had finished; likely because they felt they had to, but Fio and others were turned off by his racial slurs. Everyone in that room hated Al Qaeda, but the citizens of Afghanistan were generally good people. They were families with children living in a war torn world with their lives being held in peril because of a dictator they did not even want. So to hear this piece of shit Silas Christian refer to them as camel jockeys made Fio's blood boil.

"At least he didn't say Semper Fi." Rodriguez cracked.

Once Christian had finished his drivel, he stepped away from the podium and gave it back to Phillips.

"Thank you for that inspiring speech, Mr. Christian. We will carry those words into battle and cherish them always." Phillips attempted to sound polite, but anyone who really knew the would know that every word dripped with disdain.

"And for our rookies, we have a tradition which we follow…we ask our maker to stand beside us and protect us from our enemies. So if you are a believer, or somewhere in the middle we ask you to pray with us, if you are an atheist…you better be right. Let's all bow our heads." All present bowed their heads as Phillips began to pray.

"Lord make me fast and accurate

Let my aim be true

And my hand faster than those who would seek to destroy me

Grant me victory over my foes

And those that wish to do harm to me and mine

Let not my last thought be

If I only had my gun

And Lord, if today is truly the day that you call me home,

Let me die in a pile of empty brass."

"Amen"

Fio made the traditional Catholic gesture of the cross and smiled to herself as she saw Alex do the same.

"HOOAH!" Phillips shouted as they all stood up shouting the army battle cry in response.

"OK DELTA DEPLOYMENT LET'S MOVE OUT!" Faulks shouted while clapping his hands loudly. "ON YOUR FEET! GO! GO! GO!"

"YES SIR!" They all echoed back in unison before grabbing their gear and lining up single file at the door.

That night team Delta lead the chosen Operation Muirfield recruits intrepidly into the night; each of them in full throttle and ready to fight the enemy to bring home their brother!

But no man or woman would be prepared for the fate that awaited them that night.

And they would never be the same.

* * *

 ** _Manhattan  
_** Present Day

"Ok Vincent. I will be recording this session….do you have any objections to being recorded?" Justin held up his digital voice recorder and waited for Vincent's reply.

"No objections." Vincent replied as he leaned his head against the back of the couch attempting to relax. Due to his schedule Justin had agreed to hold a session in his office. The atmosphere made it nearly impossible to relax, but the hope was

"Excellent." Justin wrote something down. "Are you feeling relaxed enough for me to put you under today, or do you want to share any memories you may have had since our last session?"

Vincent released an exasperated sigh and leaned forward.

"I don't think I'm going to reach that state today; I have way too much on my mind. But I have been having some memory breakthroughs that we can talk about?"

Justin nods.

"Of course. Sometimes just being in a familiar setting helps. So why don't you tell me about these memories."

"Well most of these memories stem from an old friend, Captain Alex Faulks." He began. "In Afghanistan he was our superior training officer. Great guy and very good friend. But even the first time I met him I realized there was something different about him…at that time I was 22, and he wasn't much older, maybe 24 or 25. But he was already in a high level position in leading Delta Deployment and superior to soldiers much older than he was."

"How was he different?" Justin cocked his head inquisitively with a slight squint of his eye lids.

"It's hard to explain." Vincent leaned forward folding his hands against his knee. "I can't really put my finger on it, but he had the maturity of a person much older. He mostly kept to himself and only spoke if he had something to say. Most of the time he was just very focused and reserved."

"Would you say he was anti-social:" Justin was clearly interested in the direction Vincent was taking him. "Did you ever feel there was anything about him that was…a little off?"

Vincent shook his head.

"Not at all. He was a great guy and I wouldn't call him anti-social. He was always approachable and once in a great while we would sit with his crew or even us for a beer or two. I never sensed anything off about him. I guess I would describe him as quiet, stoic or studious even. But the one trait that stood out was he was very calm…" He balanced his hands back and forth searching for an adjective. "…like a Jedi Master. He was every ounce a soldier. But when it came to battle, he was like a war machine; he was in charge and knew how to run the show. It was quite phenomenal." He looked up at Justin who remained silent. "And you are probably wondering how this is relevant?"

Justin shook his head.

"I suspected you were going somewhere; you have mentioned Captain Faulks before, so carry on."

"Well last night, just out of the blue he appeared on my doorstep. He was as shocked to see me as much as I was to see him, but it appears he has recently relocated to Manhattan and was assigned to the very precinct my wife works out of."

Justin nodded and wrote something in his notes. "Continue."

"I took him out for some drinks, we talked about the war…or at least the good times before everything went batshit. We talked about her. And then I heard a song that reminded me of the Military Ball the night we graduated from the Murifield Program…" He smiled as he remembered in detail dancing with her with both of them laughing, then Faulks cutting and seeing the love in their eyes as they danced together. It reminded him of his first dance with Catherine at her father's wedding. "I didn't even want to go because I was still going through depression, but Fiona would not hear of it." He laughed out loud as he reminisced on the memory. "She came to my dorm and refused to leave until I put on my dress uniform and stop feeling sorry for myself because they did not go through the trouble of rescuing my sorry ass so I can cry over almost getting killed. She reminded me that I am very much alive and it is time to celebrate what I have, not dwell on what could have happened." There were now tears in his eyes as he continued to laugh. "That was how she was…or is…she felt if she didn't get a moment dwell on what may have been, then neither did you."

Vincent started to relax now and drifted into a light sleep as he continued to speak. "He had blue eyes…" He mumbled as Jason frowned baffled by his sudden change of subject. "He's watching her…. they are walking out the door and he is right behind them…"

"Vincent…?" Justin leaned forward. "Who has blue eyes? Captain Faulks? Are you speaking of somebody else?"

"She left with him that night…" He continued as though he did not hear him. "She was holding his arm and all I remember was her turning to look at me before they left. She was happy and in love. She gave me a smile and a wave then walked through the door." Tears began to form as he cried in his sleep. "After that, I never saw her again." He abruptly stood up and shouted. "FIONA! DON'T GO! HE'S FOLLOWING YOU! FIONA PLEASE!" He screamed loudly as though he was shouting across the years to her, while reaching out his hand. He then crumbled to the floor sobbing uncontrollably as Justin placed a supportive hand on his shoulder.

"Ok Vincent…on the backward count from 3 you will awaken from your sleep. You will remember everything, and you will know that your memories cannot hurt you. Three…you can hear the sound of my voice. Two…you are becoming aware of where you are and your surroundings. One…open your eyes...you are refreshed and your memories remain with you...you are safe."

Vincent opened his eyes looking around before looking at Justin. "I remember everything…" He voice was calm, but there was a panic in his tone. "And I know exactly who is responsible for her disappearance."


End file.
